I've Had Enough.

I know there have been moments when you were “fed up”. You were angry with a boss, a co-worker, a friend or a relative. Maybe you showed anger on the outside but really you were hurt or experienced a heart-break or you were just anxious about something you couldn’t control.

David shows us how to deal with anger. He writes about how he feels in Psalms 109. It’s an angry Psalm. Those kinds of Psalms are called imprecatory Psalms where one invokes judgement, calamity and curses down upon one’s perceived enemies. We try not to read those because they are very uncomfortable.

Many scholars believe this Psalm is written due to a story that unfolds for David in 1 Samuel 25 (make sure to read the story now, then come back). David has an interaction with a guy named Nabal. Nabal is disrespectful of David and David is going to get his pound of flesh. In David’s prayer in Psalm 109, David lists all the things he wants God to do to Nabal. Understand, David could have done all the things he wanted God to do but David never does them. He allows God to be a part of the story. He trusts God and knows God will act justly.

David’s experience shows us that in moments when we find ourselves upset and angry, we need to ask ourselves some questions.

First, will I react or respond? David clearly reacts in this story. As followers of Jesus, we are called to respond by thinking through how we will interact at this crossroads. When someone hurts you or gives you pain, we tend to react but God’s called us to be slow to anger and respond rather than react.

Second, will I rehearse or reflect? David, in this story, continues to rehearse how badly he’s been treated and is simply ramping up his emotional state of anger. If we aren’t fixing our eyes on Jesus, we can do the same thing. So many times our anger comes from the hurt and pain other’s have caused us. We can get locked into the replaying of the story over and over until we are sick. Jesus calls us to give him the burden and he’ll give us peace and rest (Matthew 11).

Finally, will I rage or release? I don’t mean you’re going to forget what other’s did to you…that you won’t remember but you’re going to release it to God and let him deal with it. Again, David could have taken care of business but he allowed God to enter the story, gave God his burden, and God took care of it.

At the front end of Psalm 109, David is livid. But by the end, he is worshiping. It’s all because he surrenders his emotions to God. He releases his anxiety, frustration, pain and hurt to God. In so doing, he gains peace and moves through that crossroad to a much healthier and better place. May you experience release in your story. May you allow God to walk with you. May you allow Jesus to bear your burden. Blessings on the journey.

Things are "fine".

Growing up when asked “How are you?”, we were trained to say, “I’m fine.” But sometimes, things didn’t feel “fine”. If you were especially spiritual, you’d say you were blessed. What we’ve found generally speaking is that honesty and vulnerability have not always been part of our spiritual answers. So if we don’t “feel fine”, how do we fix it?

When you look at the life of Jesus, one collection of data suggest Jesus had 39 different emotions during his time on earth. Now, some of you didn’t know that many emotions existed. But Jesus was delighted, sad, angry, wept, joyful, loved, felt loneliness, discouragement and encouragement. We discover that being honest about the way we feel is very human and shows strength, not weakness.

Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on his last night before his arrest shows us the incredibly strong emotions he felt in his last days. He was incredibly anxious about what was in front of him as he thought about his trial, abuse and crucifixion. It’s all recounted in Matthew 26:36-39. Luke’s gospel shows he experienced a physical change due to the anxiety Jesus was feeling that night.

Jesus was so stressed he experienced hemotadrosis, which is a breaking of the capillaries near the sweat glands producing bloody sweat. Jesus says, “I’m overwhelmed to the point of death.” Jesus shows us his emotion and is honest about how he feels. I hope as you see Jesus in this story, it frees you from the pressure Christianity puts on you to be perfect and have it all figured out.

From this story of Jesus, he gives us an example of how we handle stress and anxiety in our life. First, Jesus is vulnerable with his closest friends, Peter, James, and John. He tells them, “I’m overwhelmed…stay here with me.” He doesn’t reveal that to all the disciples. Just three of them.

We should learn (especially on social media) to not tell everyone about what is going on in our world. But we certainly should have 3-4 close friends who we can be totally honest with on how we are doing.

Secondly, Jesus priorities his feelings with his faith. So many times, we rationalize if we feel a certain way, it must be okay or the right thing to do. But in the garden, Jesus says, “I feel overwhelmed. But Father, not my will but yours. I want to do what you want no matter how I feel.”

Finally, Jesus pours out his feelings to his Heavenly Father through prayer. See, we process our feelings with God in prayer. Jesus says, “My soul is overwhelmed.” What about you? Could you say, “Father, I’m so stressed right now or I’ve had enough or I’m really angry or I’m so tired or I’m finding life very lonely?” We must realized God can redeem those feeling but he can only redeem what you are willing to release.

My hope is you’ve got close friends in your corner, that you’ll line up your feelings with what God wants for you and you’ll never forget to take how you feel to God in prayer. Stay safe. Be Jesus. Blessings on your journey.