Bible Chapel of Shawnee  
April 31st, 2019

Learning to handle emotions
 
**Rhetorical theme**: Learning to handle emotions
 
**Full theme**: Learning to handle emotions involves telling the Lord, depending on the Lord and remembering the Lord.
 
1. Introduction
    
    1. Psalm 40:10
    
    I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.￼
    
    3. Psalm 66:16￼Come and hear, all who fear God, And I will tell of what He has done for my soul.
      
    5. Some of the story of Ada's death        
        1. Three years ago on March 19th
        2. Born at 32 weeks and died 10 hours later
        3. Sorrow we had never known before
    6. How we read the Psalms afterward
    7. What we noticed as we read
        1. Emotions freely and frankly expressed
        2. Character of God clearly described
        3. Comfort came a result
    8. Began to understand how to deal with our sorrow
    9. Want to share those encouragements with you￼
2. Tell the Lord (Psalm 13:1-2)￼_To deal with our emotions, we must start by telling the Lord.__￼_
    
    1. Psalm 13
        
        1. Fear
        2. Loneliness
        3. Despair
        4. Sorrow
    2. After Ada died
        
        1. Deep sorrow
        2. Confusion
            
            1. Why would God allow this?
            2. With so much abortion in the world, why would God take a wanted baby?
        3. How is He compassionate and gracious but also allow such heartbreak?
        4. In other words, our emotions were not neat or clean
        5. Are these things you can tell the Lord?
        6. Do we have to sort out our emotions before we come to Him?
    3. Examples
        
        1. 1 Kings 19:1-18 Elijah after Carmel - despair, exhaustion, fear
        2. Habakkuk 1 Habakkuk - confusion, anger
        3. Job - injustice, anger
    4. Observations
        
        1. Frank, honest with the Lord
        2. They told the Lord even though
            
            1. The emotions seemed to betray lack of faith in God
            2. The emotions seemed to be accusations against God
        3. God responded with grace and gentleness
            
            1. Elijah
                
                1. Provided food
                2. Comfort
                3. Gentle questions
                4. Gracious answers
            2. Habakkuk
                
                1. Gentleness
                2. Reassurance of God's character (righteousness)
            3. Job
                
                1. A sharp rebuke
                2. But, restoration and forgiveness
    5. We can expect the Lord to be the same with us
        
        1. Gentle
        2. Kind
        3. Comforting
        4. Restoring
      
    
3. Depend on the Lord (Psalm 13:3-4)￼_When we approach the Lord, it must be with the right attitude of dependence on the Lord.__￼_
    
    1. Psalm 13
        
        1. Call for the Lord to answer
        2. Call for the Lord to enlighten
        3. Call for the Lord to deliver
    2. Examples
        
        1. Elijah
            
            1. Quite literally put himself in a position where only the Lord could rescue him
                
                1. Deep into the wilderness
                2. Servant left behind
            2. Responded to the Lord's questions
            3. Probably no accident that he went to the mountain of the Lord--he sought His presence
        2. Habakkuk
            
            1. Calling upon the Lord's righteous character
            2. Standing and watching for an answer from the Lord
            3. Not turning away in his confusion in anger, going to the Lord instead
        3. Job
            
            1. Though self-righteous
            2. Seeking out God's judgement
            3. Calling out to God for explanation
    3. Common theme
        
        1. Going to God, looking for His answer
        2. Trusting God and His explanation
        3. Trusting God that He will answer
    4. What our attitude must be with one caveat of feelings of doubt: God honors an honest pursuit of truth, even if we feel uncertainty about whether He is the true God
      
    
    _[Transition: Dependence on the Lord is key because it reveals an inner agreement with the truth regardless of how strong they are, our emotions don't tell the whole story. So, there is danger in following the path our emotions lead us down. God is the only one with the whole picture who can contextualize our emotions properly and return us to a right, sober mind.]_￼
    
4. Remember the Lord (Psalm 13:5-6)￼_To put our emotions in the right context, we must remember the Lord.__￼_
    
    1. 5a Refresh our knowledge of God's character
        
        1. What you can find in the Psalms
            
            1. King forever and ever (10:16)
            2. Is righteous, loves righteousness (11:7)
            3. A refuge (14:6)
            4. My rock, fortress, deliverer (18:2)
            5. My shepherd (23:1)
            6. My light, my salvation (27:1)
            7. My strength, my shield (28:7)
            8. Good (34:8)
            9. Against evildoers (34:16)
            10. Sustainer of my soul (54:4)
            11. On and on…
        2. The objective truth: this is who God is
        3. Step of faith: believe it or our emotions?
    2. 5b Remember God's historical works
        
        1. God has been consistent in all His actions
    3. 6 Remember God's personal dealings
        
        1. God has been consistent personally, in my life￼
5. Conclusion
    
    1. Psalm 18:1-19
        
        1. Read at Ada's funeral
        2. Encapsulated how the Lord comforted us
            
            1. He's a refuge and deliverer
            2. He hears us
            3. He answers us and brings comfort swiftly
    2. We saw the Lord put His comforting Word into action through His people
        
        1. Grace's parents cancelled vacation, sat with us
        2. Dad cut his Austria trip short, helped me with the funeral
        3. Entire family came for the funeral, including all of Grace's sibling with their spouses and kids
        4. Countless friends brought meals, spoke encouraging words, things I still remember today
    3. Grace's remark in conversation
        
        1. Shocking how something so painful can so firmly be behind us
        2. The memories of it are emotion
        3. The pain is healed and we are restored
   

_[Transition: But we have to be careful too, dumping our emotions on the Lord can be done in an unrighteous way.]_