Damaged Emotions
Page Four
But what has been your response to all of these things? What about your part? What about the fact that you learned to resent and to hate? Granted, your parents never told you anything about sex and in your innocence you were easily led into sin. Agreed, that was the way it happened the first time, but what about the second? Now who must take responsibility? Every life is a complicated tapestry woven of variegated strands of thread; we have sometimes been victims, but we have also helped in weaving the design. Face this fact.
Third, ask yourself Jesus' great question: "Will you be made whole?"5 Do you really want to be healed? The lame man in this story in the Bible had lain by the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years and Jesus seeing him asked, "Do you want to be healed?" How foolish a question! But no, Jesus really meant it. Do you want to be healed or just talk about it and keep on using your handicap to get sympathy from others, to use it as a built-in crutch, so for the rest of your life you can walk with a limp?
The Leaning Tower of Pisa has been slowly continuing to tilt for over 800 years. If the tower leans one or two inches farther it could come crashing down. All who would save the tower agree intervention is necessary. It was Dr. Lucian Chiti, the Pisan Secretary for Tourists in the local Chamber of Commerce who said, however, the problem was to halt the leaning, not to straighten the tower completely. "That would be terrible! There would be no more tourists and we'd be ruined!"
Is this your attitude? Do you really want to be healed, or do you just want to feel better? Do you want to get straightened up, or do you just want your leaning halted a bit?
 The early Church put great emphasis
on sharing with one another.
Jesus laid his hands on the infirm woman and straightened her back, but only after He had healed her of her real trouble. First he freed her of her "spirit of infirmity"—then He straightened her back. First He gave the emotional healing, then the physical touch.
We often pray prayers that the Holy Spirit cannot answer, "Relieve my pain and depression and inner agony," we may ask the Lord. But that pain may be a blessing in disguise which will lead you to get help in finding the real source of your problem. Do you truly want this help?
Finally, ask the Holy Spirit to show you what your real problem is. He may show you through someone else. Some problems we cannot discover directly ourselves. The early Church put great emphasis on sharing with one another. "Confess your faults one to another...."6 We have largely lost this practice. John Wesley emphasized the help of being part of a small group. There is a very powerful catharsis and healing there.
You see, a real cure for damaged emotions is to be found in surrender and prayer. But first the hidden hurt and the root cause of the matter must be brought up from the unconscious level. Only then can it be surrendered and prayed for; only then can the Holy Spirit heal the wound, as only He can do. Getting to the real problem is one of the great contributions a caring friend or professional counselor can make.
At a retreat, I had counseled with a lady in her late thirties who was praying that the Holy Spirit would reveal to her her true need. During a time of sharing she opened her heart to the entire group. "What's wrong with me? All week I've run from all of you. Each message has made me more miserable, and all of you have been so kind and wonderful. You have tried to love me, but I wouldn't let you. I've watched love overflow from my husband all these years. He's been so kind and patient and loving, but it has only made me angrier. My little girl has tried to love me. What I've really wanted all my life was to love and be loved, but I've never been able to do it because I've never been able to accept God's love. I've resented God! I haven't been grateful, and he's given me such a wonderful husband and two wonderful children. This week I've seen love through all of you and especially through my little girl. I've seen all of you love her and seen her respond to your love, and it has been amazing. It has made me feel so empty."
By this time her voice had risen until she was almost screaming. Now she was half-talking to us and half-talking to God. Then she turned her face upward. "God forgive me. I've been so proud and sophisticated and unloving." Now she was weeping and shouting her prayer. All of a sudden she let out a great shout of joy, "I'm free! I'm free! It's gone. I feel free for the first time in my life. Praise God! Oh, thank you God!"
What I've really wanted all my life
was to love and be loved, but I've
never been able to do it because I've
never been able to accept God's love.
Meanwhile the little girl who had been in the nursery nearby heard her mother's screams and came running to her. "Oh, Mamma, Mamma," she said, "what's wrong, Mamma?" And she ran to her mother and jumped up and hugged her around the neck. By now her husband was weeping and the woman grabbed him and started hugging him, and all three were hugging each other and praising God!
Does this mean ALL of this woman's emotional problems and her "damaged emotions" were forever removed? Certainly not, but the years have confirmed this was the great "break-through" which enabled her to grow in love and maturity. Without such healing, growth would not have been possible. She found the root cause and when that was effectively dealt with, healing became a matter of time and continued growth.
What is the "damaged emotion" in your life which is acting as a hindrance to "faith which works by love?" What is that emotional wound which occasionally erupts in a recurring behavior pattern which brings defeat and shame to you? Let us together come to the great Counselor, the Holy Spirit, and with His help find that wholeness which our Heavenly Father wants to give everyone of us.
1. Luke 13:11(KJV).
2. Luke 13:16 (KJV).
3. I Corinthians 2:2(KJV).
4. Romans 8:26-27 (KJV).
5. John 5:6 (KJV).
6. James 5:16 (KJV).
Copyright © 2001 by Narramore Christian Foundation
Dr. David Seamands, M.A., D.D. is a noted theologian and United Methodist minister ... He served as a missionary to India, as pastor of the Wilmore United Methodist Church, (a Kentucky parish noted for serving the Asbury College and Asbury Theological Seminary communities), and subsequently as professor of Pastoral Ministry at Asbury Theological Seminary.
 Return to Page One
NOTE: To email this article to a friend, return to page one and click on the "E-mail a Friend" button link at the top right of the page.
|
