Does God Really Care About Our Emotions?
I used to think expressing negative emotions meant I was a bad Christian. It seemed like all the good Christians were one-dimensional rays of sunshine, and God favored them. They saw the good in everything. But that wasn’t my story. My story was riddled with trauma, abuse, pain, and rejection, and I had no idea how to reconcile that.
One book changed my life. After reading Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero, I was able to understand God’s heart for emotional wellness. Emotional wellness and spiritual wellness go hand and hand because if we ever want to grow in our Christian life, that requires us to break free from past hurts in order to experience healing. Breaking free from the past that binds us means we have to talk about it and seek healing. We can’t do that if we suppress our feelings.
Here’s the thing…
The Bible is full of praise and worship, but it’s also full of lament and sadness. There is grace for both. God doesn’t neglect the hard parts of life, so why should we? We do ourselves a huge disservice when we tell only one side of the story. Without feeling the grief and gravity of sin, we can’t fully understand redemption. This is why I’m so passionate about the intersection of emotional and spiritual health.
Everything that God asks of us requires emotional maturity on some level. Think about it. Loving your enemies requires a level of maturity that many of us don’t naturally have. Trusting in the Lord with all your heart becomes very difficult when you struggle with trust issues. Loving your neighbor is extremely hard when you consistently have poor relationships with others. You see?
Once I was able to grasp this, my life and relationship with Jesus changed completely. I have been able to experience Him more fully and put my trust in Him because He truly does care, and not only that, but He also truly understands. No emotion or experience is too great for our Lord. He wants us to invite Him into the difficult moments and lead us through them.
I desire to see women all over the world healed emotionally and spiritually.