2020 Daily Devotion - Day 210
Matthew 27:46 ESV
So, there are two lessons here:
Pray with me:
Lord Jesus, You give us this wonderful permission to be able to express our feelings. Through Your own example, You are telling us we will be more emotionally healthy when we share our feelings. During these challenging days of COVID-19, help us to be “emotionally intelligent,” express our feelings and find greater strength. In Your holy name. Amen.
Yours because of Him,
Pastor John R. Steward
Senior Pastor
Mount of Olives Church
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
This is one of the seven last statements of Christ Jesus from the cross. While we could spend some important time looking at the theological importance of these words, I want to focus on what they mean for you and me during this pandemic.
Here we find Jesus Christ, who is God in Human flesh (John 1:1 &14), crying out words which represent tremendous emotional pain. He obviously feels abandoned and deserted. He feels discarded and alone. But more than just having these feelings, He actually expresses them out loud – what an example for all of us.
In my book, “Language of the Heart: Improving Every Relationship,” we talk about how important it is to not only have feelings, but to be able to share them with someone who will not try to talk us out of our feelings. Notice, none of His disciples at the foot of the cross tried to talk Him out of His feelings. They didn’t tell Him how He should feel. And yet, we do it all of the time with others.
This is one of the seven last statements of Christ Jesus from the cross. While we could spend some important time looking at the theological importance of these words, I want to focus on what they mean for you and me during this pandemic.
Here we find Jesus Christ, who is God in Human flesh (John 1:1 &14), crying out words which represent tremendous emotional pain. He obviously feels abandoned and deserted. He feels discarded and alone. But more than just having these feelings, He actually expresses them out loud – what an example for all of us.
In my book, “Language of the Heart: Improving Every Relationship,” we talk about how important it is to not only have feelings, but to be able to share them with someone who will not try to talk us out of our feelings. Notice, none of His disciples at the foot of the cross tried to talk Him out of His feelings. They didn’t tell Him how He should feel. And yet, we do it all of the time with others.
So, there are two lessons here:
- We need to express our feelings and not keep them bottled up inside. We need to do this without hurting or damaging others.
- We need to allow others to have their feelings and not try to be a cheerleader who tries to get them out of their upset. It is OK if people are upset. We don’t have to own their upset, we just need to non-judgmentally be a caregiver for them.
Pray with me:
Lord Jesus, You give us this wonderful permission to be able to express our feelings. Through Your own example, You are telling us we will be more emotionally healthy when we share our feelings. During these challenging days of COVID-19, help us to be “emotionally intelligent,” express our feelings and find greater strength. In Your holy name. Amen.
Yours because of Him,
Pastor John R. Steward
Senior Pastor
Mount of Olives Church
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