Are Your Emotions Keeping You from Peace?

Why God?

I have no idea why we walk with Pain, hold hands with Suffering, or witness firsthand the presence of Anxiety – she’s nothing but a bully. But I bet my life that if we keep an open mind and have a vulnerable, open, and honest conversation with God, we will find Peace and come out stronger on the other side.

Pain, Suffering, and Anxiety are not all bad. They can be great reminders of someone we once loved and lost, alert us to danger, and even keep us on guard against approaching enemies.

But keeping our eyes on God is the key to surviving their visits.

We Are Not Alone

When we’re visited by Pain, Suffering, and Anxiety, we must remember we don’t always get to see the “big picture.” So, keeping our eyes on God allows us to endure their encounters knowing we’re not alone.

Jesus had many visits with these three. Pain accompanied Him when He left the Father in heaven to come to earth in the form of a human. She sat with Him when He buried His earthly father, Joseph as she does with all of us who’ve experienced loss.

Even His disciples fell asleep in the garden of Gethsemane when Anxiety made a list of the upcoming events. Pain and Anxiety led the very people He came to die for into a revolt against Him. They beat Him until His flesh hung like ribbons. They pounded nails into His hands and feet and hung Him on a cross like a criminal.

Suffering sat beside Him in His last moments on earth. He watched Suffering place her arm around His birth mom and then watched Mary buckle under the weight. Pain mocked Him as He winched from the ache inside His chest as He asked John to care for her.

The Big Picture

Jesus knows what it’s like for these three to visit. He understands the turmoil they leave in their wake. But more importantly, He knows that there was a greater purpose behind their visits. By keeping His eyes on God, the Father, He could press forward and complete the unthinkable, incredible task that was asked of Him.

If we can, in the moment of their visit, look to God, and even if it’s nothing more than a whisper say, “I trust you, Lord.” (This is rarely an easy task.) The Holy Spirit shows up to be our shield. He protects us in the hard places when Pain, Suffering, and Anxiety have overstayed their welcome.  Even Jesus, knowing He was about to face death on a cross, surrounded by Pain, Suffering, and Anxiety asked God to take this cup from Him. Then, He declared to God the Father, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:41-44).

He introduces us to Peace whose intense light causes Pain, Suffering, and Anxiety to retreat.

Sometimes their retreat is as slow as a snail on fly paper. Will they ever go away?  While other times, they disappear like freshly fallen snow on a sunny spring afternoon. No matter the pace of their retreat, we are left wrapped in the Holy Spirit’s arms strengthened by His embrace.