Page 78 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 23

in the breadth of her bi�erness with her many los- in the complete fullness of love that is totally
ses then being filled with the joy of new life through beyond human contempla�on (see above cita�-
a grandchild (Ruth); and of Hannah crying out to
God for a son, receiving relief in her pain and then
being blessed with the fulfillment of her request (1
Samuel 1:2–2:21).
David, the man a�er God’s own heart, cried out to
the Lord from the depth of his soul in the majority
of the songs he wrote, as he journeyed in the de-
sert and on the throne (Psalms). His wri�ngs also
highlighted his ability to dance and celebrate from
his heart. Jeremiah is known as the weeping pro-
phet (Lamenta�ons), while Isaiah brought hope
through iden�fying the neediness of the human
race and in highligh�ng the longing for the promise
of the coming Savior (Isaiah).
Throughout the Old Testament, humanity was
brought face to face with the angst of their situa�-
on. There had been no pathway to success that
mankind could fulfill independently. �me a�er
�me, man’s a�empts to secure success met with
lack of sa�sfac�on and tragedy. The excep�ons
were the �mes that contained the presence and
the grace of God.
Sit with the emo�onal impact of this: Mankind
could not establish an independent kingdom with
anything that approached the greatness of God;
though they a�empted and were given opportunity
a�er opportunity to accomplish this. In spite of this, Consider that the aspect of Biblical revela�on that
God’s emo�onal message of love, peace and hope
run throughout scripture. The greatest fulfillment is emo�on expression and fluency, are most o�en the
manifest in the human birth of the Son of God.
In the New Testament, we find faithful Elizabeth
and Zechariah in disbelief about the possibility of
bearing a son in their old age yet experiencing just
that (Luke 1:5-25). There is also the passage of
Mary storing and treasuring her emo�onal memo-
ries of God’s blessing to her in her heart (Luke
2:19), not to men�on the living out of the wonder
and angst of being the mother of Jesus the Christ.
The Gospels share Christ’s emo�onal story in
depth; including frustra�on with his family on se-
veral occasions, celebra�on at the wedding in Cana,
grief at the loss of John and Lazarus, joy at the dis- way of defining mo�va�on/emo�on here might be
ciples return from evangelizing, weeping and lon-
ging over Jerusalem, and his unbearable anguish in
the Garden of Gethsemane (see above cita�ons).
Christ’s prayers for Himself, His disciples and the
believers in John 17 express his love in the Trinity
and this love outspread to humanity. Finally, the
depth of Christ’s emo�on is displayed on the cross
78
78
ons).
It did not stop there. Throughout the Bible, we see
the emo�onal stories of the impact of the fall; and
we see the human story intertwined with the red-
emp�ve story of God our Savior who delivers us
from all our fears (Psalm 34:4) God brings His peace
to the heart of man, the peace that passes all un-
derstanding (Philippians 4:6).
The Emo�onal Impact of the Fall and Redemp�on
How can the broken fears and anxie�es of this
world be brought before the redemp�ve presence
of the Lord so that there is par�cipa�on in God’s
peace and the frui�ulness of the Holy Spirit? How
do we stand upright in the fullness of our iden�ty in
Christ and live out the image of God from our
hearts? At the end of his life, King David spoke of
the Lord having delivered him from all his troubles
(1 Kings 1:29) and Paul encouraged having peace in
all situa�ons (2 Thessalonians 3:16). Jesus encoura-
ged his disciples with these words: “Peace I leave
with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to
you as the world gives. Do not let not your hearts
be troubled and do not be afraid” (NIV, 1978/2011,
John 14:27).
lends clarity to understanding the importance of
passages speaking of loving God with our hearts
(Luke 22:37). This is based on heart-felt movements
and mo�va�ons (Johnson, 2017). Scriptures share
the rich emo�on content of the heart, including
love, gladness, delight, grief, afflic�on, stubborn-
ness, contri�on, anguish and decep�on as well as
underlying passions, inten�ons, understandings
and wisdom that come through the heart. In
complemen�ng Eric Johnson (2017), who closely
connects mo�va�on and emo�on to the scriptural
concept of the heart; and Robert Roberts (2013)’
defini�on of emo�on presented earlier, another
“heart-based construals”.
David, as “the man a�er God’s own heart” (NIV, 1
Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22), cries out and writes
down his emo�ons in song a�er song before the
Lord. David invites humanity to “pour out your
hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” (NIV,
1978/2011, Psalm 62:8). What does it look like to