Bring Him All Your Emotions

God made us to be emotional like Him.

God delights. God is sometimes sad, and sometimes angry. God is gentle, and caring. The Lord is emotional, and He freely expresses His emotions.

Few people have freedom to fully express themselves. Have you lost the intensity of your emotions? Have you lost part of what it means to be created in God’s image? God wants to restore your soul. He wants to re-invigorate your capacity to feel. He longs to give you the ability and freedom to fully convey your feelings.

I dare you to celebrate when there is something to celebrate! Laugh more! Grieve when you need to grieve! Be angry when you need to be angry! Don’t calculate the risk of getting involved. Take the risk, and care the way you should care about others! Be tender and gentle like He is. Be vibrantly alive with emotions! We are made in His image. Be like God and express yourself!

Maybe you are uncomfortable when other people get emotional, because you have trouble sharing your own emotions. You might be jealous of people who can express themselves fully, and wish you could give yourself such freedom. What should you do to overcome emotional constipation? The book of Psalms is like a laxative that frees up our pent-up emotions. As you work through these chapters, find a few trusted friends and start opening up with them. Keep letting your emotions out, and eventually it will become a way of life for you, as it should. We were not made to be robots.

God wants us to share our emotions with Him.

He cares about what we are feeling, so bring Him all your emotions! When you’re feeling good, He wants to celebrate with you. Whether you are feeling bullied or blessed, tell Him! Depressed? Take it to the One who can comfort like no other. Feeling some envy? Overcome with greed? Been put to shame? God is especially good at helping us work through such negative emotions.

Pour out your heart to Him.

Psalm 62:8

Need an example? A man we will call “Bob” was a Christ-follower, yet for some reason he was feeling angry at the world. He walked out into the garage and stumbled over his kids’ shoes. He had told his kids repeatedly not to leave shoes there. In anger, he kicked the shoes out of the way. The dog was nearly hit by one of the flying shoes, and whimpered off into a corner to hide. The dog gave Bob a look that said, “You are dangerous right now.”

Bob got in his car and drove to church. While driving, he talked with God. “Lord, I’m mad and I’m dangerous to myself and others. My dog told me so. Help me understand myself. Why am I mad? Help me care about others, because right now, I don’t.”

That’s how God wants us to talk with Him- honestly, transparently, and in real time, in sync with what’s happening in our emotional lives.

How should you do so?

Use your voice to express your feelings to Him. Speak out freely to Him just as you would to someone who knows all about you, and loves you anyway. Don’t pray what you think others want to hear. Don’t say only what you think God wants to hear. Honestly tell Him whatever you are feeling. Let God in on your emotions.

Use your body to express your feelings to Him. Move before Him in motions that express emotions. If you are angry, beat your fists in the air. If you are full of joy, jump up and down before Him.

Use the Bible to express yourself to Him. Look for verses, especially in Psalms, that put in to words what you are feeling, and pray those verses back to God.

Use your time, your talents, and your money to express yourself to God. If you love Him, show Him your love with extravagant gifts to Him in worship.

Use your relationships to express yourself to Him. Let the friendships you choose bring Him glory. Let the way you express intimacy only within marriage honor Him. Let your primary relationships be with brothers and sisters in Christ, doing worship, fellowship, and life together as His fully alive church.

Those who are in a personal relationship with the Creator God can’t help but express their emotions to Him and about Him!

Brag on Him to those who don’t know Him well. With conviction and enthusiasm, tell others what God means to you.

Being born again causes your emotions to come back to life like never before. Christ in you makes you fully alive! So live like it! Emote like it!

I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love.

For you have seen my troubles,

and you care about the anguish of my soul.

Psalm 31:7

Discussion Questions

What view of God have you held since you were a child?

Does your view of God include God showing emotion?

Does your view of God include God caring about your emotions?

Read Psalm 62:8. When are you prone to bring emotions to God?

When do you tend to withhold your emotions from God?

Read Psalm 31:7. Do you believe that God cares about the anguish of your soul?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how strongly would your behavior show that you believe God cares about you?

Few things will change your life like scripture memory. Choose one verse from the chapter to memorize. Post the verse where you will see it regularly. Start a collection of scripture memory verses, including one verse from each chapter of this book, and review the verses often.