![]() ![]() When he attempts to get on his feet, he is infected with “sore boils” from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Job 1:3Īfter a series of natural disasters, however, something unthinkable happens - Job is reduced to poverty and his ten children are killed in a terrible natural disaster. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. In contemporary terms, his assets would have included a fleet of Rolls-Royces, private airplanes, yachts, thriving global companies, and significant real estate holdings. Job was one of the richest men in the world in his day. The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison God’s terrors are marshaled against me.” Devotional May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more… If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas - no wonder my words have been impetuous. That day - may it turn to darkness may God above not care about it may no light shine on it. “May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’ Conclude with Silence (2 minutes) Midday/Evening Office Silence and Stillness God before God (2 minutes) Scripture Reading: Job 3:1-5 Job 6:1-4Īfter this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. Help me to rest and relax in You as I take the risk to be more transparent and vulnerable with my emotions. Grant me the courage to enter into honest and authentic relationship - with You, with others, and with myself - trusting that You will carry me. Lord, help me to slow down enough to feel and acknowledge what is going on inside me. In light of Jesus’ ability to express His feelings to His closest friends, how would you describe your ability to do the same? Do you do so easily, awkwardly, with great difficulty, or never? Prayer So, we must ask ourselves: Where did we get the idea that acknowledging and expressing authentic emotion is somehow less than spiritual? And why do we believe that we can - or somehow should - grow in spiritual maturity without simultaneously growing in emotional maturity? 1 Question to Consider He is pushed to the extremes of His human limits:Īnd being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. In Gethsemane, we see a fully human Jesus - anguished, sorrowful, and spiritually overwhelmed. Jesus was anything but an emotionally frozen Messiah. He expressed amazement (Mark 6:6, Luke 7:9).His heart was moved with compassion (Luke 7:13).He was sorrowful and troubled (Matthew 26:37).He was angry and distressed (Mark 3:5).He felt overwhelmed with grief (Mark 14:34).Denying anger, ignoring pain, skipping over depression, running from loneliness, and avoiding doubt are not only considered normal but actually virtuous ways of living out one’s spiritual life.īut this is not the model we find in Jesus, who freely expressed His emotions without shame or embarrassment: In some Christian circles, repressing or disavowing authentic emotion is considered a virtue or perhaps even a gift of Spirit. So, He left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. When He came back, He again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done.” The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter. Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. ![]() Then He said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Then Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Morning/Midday Office Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes) Scripture Reading: Matthew 26:36-44 When we embark on a similar journey, we experience a newfound grace to be increasingly approachable, kind, and gentle - not only with God, but also with those around us. In the Psalms, King David offers us a powerful example of this when he pours out his heart to God (see Psalm 62:8). By acknowledging and naming these realities, we raise our emotional awareness, which in turn enables us to process our emotions in a healthy way, and to integrate them into our discernment of God’s will. To “explore the iceberg” is to look beneath the surface of our lives, identifying the hidden but powerful forces that shape the way we navigate choices and relationships. ![]()
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