Unburying the buried emotion

How does a person that has stifled certain emotions for so long share those emotions? Are you that person? I am and to be honest I have become very good at not showing emotion. I would even rate myself as an expert, God Father level, on burying emotions. My wife tells me that burying my emotions is not good for my health. I understand that. I am sure that my Doctor friends will soon message me or comment that my wife is correct. They will dive into medical talk about how your blood pressure is affected or that keeping emotions locked in a cage will do damage to your heart. They might even explain how your brain gets rewired. But what does the Bible say about emotions? We will get back to that.

Miss Kay is a godly woman who showed me love and compassion when I needed it most. A paragraph or a book will do little justice on how vital Miss Kay was to shaping my life. You all know my testimony, and if you do not you are more than welcome to read some of my previous posts. Miss Kay opened her house, her family, her heart, her bible, and maybe most importantly her refrigerator to me. Don't get me wrong, my buddies and their folks opened their homes, hearts and refrigerator to me during my teenage years, but Miss Kay took the time to sit me down, pray with me and for me, and talked to me about God as often as I would let her. There is no doubt in my mind that when Miss Kay wakes up every day that the devil groans and says "Great. She's up again." Miss Kay is a warrior for God and to see this powerful woman today in ICU did something to my emotions. I began to feel emotions that I have kept hidden away since I saw my grandmother in the hospital as a 16 year old. My eyes began to leak.

They, whoever they are, say that real men show emotion. I suppose that's a cute thing to say and "they" may be right, but is that an accurate statement? We all are created in the image of God, whether you like it or not. We are blessed to feel emotions such as joy, happiness, sadness, and grief, just to name a few. But we should not allow emotions to control us. For instance, James 1:20 says "for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God". Have you heard the old saying "just follow your heart"? That is probably the worst advice you may ever receive in your life. Have you followed your heart to chase after that boy or girl? How did that end? Or how about following your heart to buy that big money purchase? How did that end? I could go on and on.

I am not saying that having emotions is bad or that we should not show emotion, but I am saying that we should not be guided by our emotions. We should be guided by the Holy Spirit. We should also share our emotions with fellow believers. Read Romans, Hebrews, Galatians, and 1 and 2 Corinthians to learn more.

I may be good at burying my emotions, but as a friend once shared with me "Buried emotions will soon be found and buried emotions will find a way to surface up". Credit John Dennis for saying that to me. Thank you for your prayers for Miss Kay. Thank you to Trudi, Kirk, Shirley, and Martin for being my unpaid therapists. And thank you to good friends who always have my back.

In Him,
Jimmy

Politics. It's what's for dinner.

Trump. Hillary. Feel the Bern. Ted. Are you ready for the madness that is also know as "Election Year'? I really do enjoy politics but I also enjoy turning off the computer, radio, and TV when I have had enough. I enjoy the strategy involved in politics and I enjoy reading some of the legislation that is introduced in the House and Senate just for the fun of it. I am certain that is not normal and that I should have myself committed because of my actions.

Are you one of those informed voters or do you vote for the best dressed person or do you vote for a candidate because your parents were a republican or democrat and that's how their parents voted before them? What if I told you that you no matter who is elected the one thing that remains absolutely clear is that we each need to take care of our own house first before we worry about what is going on in the White House? Let me try to adjust your focus just slightly, if I may. No matter what happens in the news, you will still have to go to work. You will still have to take your kids to school or if you do not have kids, you will have to fight through traffic to get to your event. You will still have to pay bills and you will still need to make wise choices about the financial decisions in your life. It does not matter who is in office, because you have to focus on you and your life.

Want to know a dirty little secret about life? Here is a spoiler alert...no one gets out of here alive. I'll give you a second to let that soak in. I know. I am such a jerk. I just told you how life ends. What if I told you that what is happening in the world today is not new. I believe in Gods word. I believe that God sent his son, Jesus, to die for my sins and yours. I also believe that we are called to love. I also believe in what Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."

Do not get me wrong. You need to be informed on what is going on in the world and you are called to be informed. But if you claim to be a follower of Christ, then you that you are called to pray for our leaders. 1 Timothy 2:1-3 tells us to "First of all, I ask you to pray much for all men and to give thanks for them. 2 Pray for kings and all others who are in power over us so we might live quiet God-like lives in peace. 3 It is good when you pray like this. It pleases God Who is the One Who saves."

It is extremely easy for us to share our thoughts on social media, but it's hard to pray for those we may not completely agree with. But what if prayed for our leaders? Our neighbors? Our nation? Our world? What if our first priority was our own home? I would venture to say that if we did all of that, everything else would fall into place. Here's another spoiler alert...we do not live in a perfect world. 

Jimmy