Finding God in Our Feelings: Embracing Joy

“Over the past five weeks, we have been unpacking some very challenging emotions and seeking God in the midst of “Finding God in Our Feelings.” (1) We started with a call to be honest about our emotions and feelings. We looked at David’s practice as he acknowledged them, took those emotions/feelings to God sooner rather than later, trusted that God heard and would respond, and drew closer to God through feelings. (2) We then unpacked shame and guilt in Tamar’s story in Genesis to face our own shame and guilt in experiences and feelings we keep hidden. We find God in our shame and guilt as we step into God’s light seeing ourselves the way God sees us as forgiven, deeply loved, free from false narratives, and precious in God’s sight. (3) We then looked at grief in the account of Hannah in 1 Samuel and the various types of grief and loss we face in life. With Jesus walking with us every step, we find God in grief and loss in the death of letting go or something ending in its burial of darkness, disorientation and pain, but then followed by the resurrection of healing and life on the other side of our loss. (4) The following week, we then looked at the iceberg of anger and those feelings that lie under the surface, but manifest as anger, such as frustration, insecurity, and jealousy. Anger is often the result of unmet expectation or desires. Finding God in our feelings of anger involves looking beneath the surface to fulfill our deepest desires. Humans disappoint, but only God can fulfill those deepest desires. (5) Last week, we looked at the feeling of loneliness. We were meant to be in relationship with God and others in connected community. We meet God in loneliness by connecting with God and letting God fill our deepest desires, growing together in building intentional relationships with others, and changing the world with others through service. This message concludes our series, “Finding God in our Feelings.” by embracing, enjoying, and rejoicing in the joy of the Lord…”