Today’s Reading : Zephaniah 3
“I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets so that no one walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant. I said, ‘Surely you will fear me; you will accept correction. Then your dwelling would not be cut off according to all that I have appointed against you.’ But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt…
“Therefore wait for me,” declares the Lord, “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed…
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.”
Zephaniah 3:6-8, 16-19 ESV
Over the years, there’s been one movie that has really captured the full aspect of emotion that has been a fan favorite of my kids, INSIDE OUT.
In this movie, it looks inside of the person’s emotional brain and shows the core emotions: joy, fear, anger, disgust, and sadness. There is a second movie where some of these emotions evolved to additional emotions: anxiety, envy, embarrassment, and boredom. This parody of life really shows the complexity of emotions that we have and how to interact and how to manage emotions.
One of my professional friends gave me insight to the emotions that we all have. We had a conversation about depression and the mechanism of depression. He gave me insight into depression theory. Depression can be viewed as a societal suppression of our pure emotions that we are told not the express, but to suppress such as our grief, anger, fear.
On a daily basis we attempt to not feel certain emotions. We attempt to dismiss our fears. We attempt to dismiss our grief. We attempt to downgrade our joy. We’re not allowing our bodies to feel the extent of our emotions and become confused in ourselves.
In this passage, we can see that God actually has a complexity of emotions as well. In the first chapters, God is angry. He is giving the prophet his emotions and expressing his frustrations with the people. He is upset about the way that people have forgotten his generosity. God is angry that he has given in a special place that they have reluctantly giving it away. But then in the last chapter, God shows his compassion. He shows how he loves despite the hurt, He gives love.
We are reflections of God’s emotional self. We have similar complex emotions that God has given us and we also have the ability to show compassion through our pain and grief. Throughout our lives, we will experience the highs and lows of different emotions. But we have to remember that examples God is given.
We all are capable of expressing our emotions, but we have to be able to do it in a matter that is gracious. Let us ask ourselves if there is someone that is in need of our compassion that has caused us hurt in the past.
Be Blessed
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