We all know emotional distress too well. Maybe you are going through one or you know someone who might be currently struggling with an emotional crisis. And because it happens, many of us fall into thinking that emotional crisis comes from God. Does God ever really cause us any emotional distress?
Whether it's struggling with depression, anger issues, frustration or dismay, an emotional problem is never from God. God may often allow us to experience it, but He is never the origin of an emotional battle.
The other day, I was playing a light dodge ball game with my daughter, Alex, and youngest brother, Nathan, who are both toddlers (well, at least I was taking it lightly while the other two wanted to destroy me). At one point, Nathan had aimed a fast ball at an unanticipating Alex. I had done nothing to stop it because that's how dodge ball is supposed to be played.
By the time collision was inevitable, Alex was hit in her nose. When senses comes back to her, guess who takes the blame? Alex starts shouting with teary eyes "Daddy, hit me!" And as much as I tried to make her understand that I had not thrown the ball nor stopped it because that was the rule of the game, she was convinced that everything that happened was my fault.
Many times, we find ourselves being so much like my daughter. Just because God does nothing to stop things because that's what naturally happens, we point our finger at Him. It's no less true with emotional distress.
We pursue relationships, start and lose businesses, experience rejection or get offended by someone dear to us only to get heartbroken. Then we start to blame God for not "shielding us from the pain."
God then tells us that it's just how the rules of life play out and asks that we run back to Him so we can start over, but instead many choose to stray away from God's presence convinced that it's all His fault. Emotional pain has never been God's fault. It has always been the doing of sin that has broken the world and us. God in fact wants nothing but complete emotional wholeness for us.
Psalm 147:3 tells us, "He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds."
God is in the business of providing the way to emotional wholeness and eternal joy. James even says that in suffering, a heart truly given to God can and will consider it pure joy (James 1:2). That's because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross. His work mends up the heart and gives us only emotional wholeness and never emotional brokenness.
This world will do everything in it's power to break our hearts because there is an enemy that is out to steal, kill and destroy. But through Jesus we can experience emotional fullness if only we turn to Him to heal our broken hearts.
