 How much of the human condition is defined by emotion? I remember
watching the original Star Trek series, and some of my favourite
episodes were the ones dealing with Mr Spock's suppression of emotions.
The Vulcan ethos was the total purging of emotions, because of the
frightful consequences when one was mastered by one's emotions. The
challenge came when Spock's human side expressed itself; sometimes the
consequences were frightful! The emotion I'd like to purge most is
fear.
I've
given this some thought. Anger has a close cousin in passion, so I
would not want to get rid of anger. All the positive emotions would
stay- joy, love, thankfulness, and so on. But fear has got to go.
Fear has too much to do with loss and possession and self. Fear draws
its power from our insecurities, our comfort-finding measures, and our
dreams turned sour.
There are Christians our
there that would have us believe that God does not want us to
experience any negative emotions at all. They say that if we really
are connected to God, if we really have His Holy Spirit, if we really
believe and behave, then God will grant us a half-vulcanlike status of
peace. Ya, and if I sacrifice my first born to the gods, the next
harvest may be better. This neo-paganism has no place in the lives of
followers of Jesus. Our emotions connect us with God, especially the
negative ones! Read the book of Psalms if you need proof!
God
can handle anger, bitterness, rage, even loss of hope. It seems that
it's fear that he goes after. At this point I need to define fear.
There is the good fear- the kind that really is an awe of God. The
bad fear is the one that is expressed in worry and stress and heavy
emotional burdens. The former helps us recognise God for who He is;
the latter robs life of joy and disconnects us from God and ourselves.
When
Job was spitting mad at God for his lot in life, God showed up and
pointed out to him who HE was, and who he (Job) was. Connection. When
David was humbled by his sin with Bathsheba and the loss of a child,
his pain and shame led him to confess his sins to God. Connection.
When Elijah fled Jezebel, fearful for his very life, he ran to the
point of exhaustion. He wanted to die under that broom tree. It
wasn't until the emotion of fear was spent and death was very close
that connection with God was re-established, and that took 3 miracles,
storms and days of desert wandering.
Fear
disconnects us from God. Unlike most other emotion, fear erodes
relationship. Fear isolates. Fear casts aside. Fear invites the
devil's death into our lives. To overcome this debilitation without
setting aside our essential humanness, God provides an answer. The
discipline of what I call the "God run".
"God
running" is the spiritual realisation of paradox in our lives. Just
when we feel furthest from God, most lonely and unloved by Him, he
calls us to run to Him. The prodigal son did. Peter ran to Jesus at
the last breakfast (John 21). In the middle of his ministry, Jesus
said "Come to me...". The word 'come' is a picture of someone standing
far away yelling, "Hey! Over here! Quick! This way! I'm over here!"
The appropriate response is to run. Fear is the wild animal chasing you
in the wilderness (or garden) of your soul, and Jesus is that
stronghold that gives protection in God. Run!
How
do you run to God? First off, we need to recognize that we are going
the wrong direction! Do a 180! If that means confession- confess
baby! If that means saying to yourself, "Hey! I'm going the wrong
way!" Then say that. Next, to run to God, to connect with Him, talk
to Him. I know, rocket science, eh? Just talk to him. Need a script?
How about the whole freaking book of psalms? Talk to Him. Just in
case you didn't catch that, talk to Him! And keep talking to Him.
There
is no magical combination of words, secret incantation, or religious
act. None of that neo-paganism that is seeping into the edges of
evangelical Christianity these days. Just have a conversation with
God. He loves that stuff! Loves it! Do not underestimate the power of
acknowledging a bad situation by talking about it. This is not some
psychological exercise (primal scream therapy anyone?)! This helps
because the one we are talking to has the power to do something about
it!. And not on some whim, or if we make the right sacrifice, but
because He is who He is. We cannot keep a covenant with Him because we
are flawed. What does He do? He keeps His side and our side of the covenant. That's character you can depend upon.
So, next time that creeping stalker fear inches its way into your life, run. Just make sure you run in the right direction.
Peace
|