Jesus wept. John 11:35 NIV
Emotions are like fire.
Fire can do a lot of things; some helpful and some hurtful. It can light a hot air balloon to take us somewhere. Or, it can cause destruction and devastation to our lives.
If we keep the fire under too much control, it could fizzle out leaving us in darkness. But, if we let the fire go wildly without any supervision, major destruction could happen. There has to be a balance.
Just like we have to have balance when tending to a fire, we have to have balance with our emotions. When we don't have balance, we fall into the extremes:
Too much control over our emotions can cause inner turmoil. Suppressing our emotions doesn't actually make them go away because our emotions were not meant to be suppressed. They were meant to be felt healthily.
Not enough control over our emotions can cause outer chaos. Letting our negative emotions go wildly without any regulation hurts those around us because our emotions directly influence our actions. We think to feel and feel to act.
Instead of suppressing or letting go of our emotions, we should reflect and then allow ourselves to feel them.
The best thing we can do for ourselves is ask why we are feeling a certain way before we act. Knowing the root of the emotion allows us to do something about it or have a better understanding while we feel it. Depending on the cause, we might be able to fix something or make a change in our lives so we can start feeling a different way. However, we don't have the power to control everything in our lives.
When something is wrong in our lives and we can't do anything about it, we tend to do one of two things: we either ignore how we are feeling until we explode or we let our emotions run freely from the start. However, both of these strategies can cause harm in our lives and the lives of others.
As humans, there isn't much else we can do on our own to change the way we are feeling or our situations. But friends, I have great news: Jesus can!
Jesus is fully man and fully God at the same time. He has emotions just like us, but when He was on Earth, He didn't let His emotions control Him. He still allowed Himself to feel, but He knew exactly what He was doing and why, when He acted.
We have a loving Father who wants to help us through our emotions. He wants us to go to Him with our struggles because He loves us and wants to help us. When we ask Him for help (whether that be change in our circumstances or control over our emotions), His answer will always be yes.
P.S. His timing is always perfect, so if you ask for Him to fix a certain situation, He may not do it right away. There is always a reason for every situation and lessons to be learned throughout the struggle. If you ask for control over your emotions, He may put you in more situations where you can learn and practice control.