Emotions

Until the moment has arrived I don’t think anyone knows how they will feel or act.  In some ways it doesn’t matter what the “moment” is or how it was triggered.  The simple fact is that someone you love is in distress.  The situation is dire!  The facts are beyond control.  There is nothing you can do, at least at the moment.  In this instant the emotions rage inside without check.  Everything is rumbling.  The pressure builds, stirring the heart in ways you never imagined. 
 
This is the way of those who love.  The deeper the emotion, the stronger the foundation, the longer the shared journey found in the relationship, the greater the reaction to those who would attack, harm, or otherwise take away hope, happiness, and peace.  In the midst of your reaction it is impossible to think clearly.  Yet, on reflection, I cannot find anything to question in my emotional response.  My motives are pure.  My intent is clean.  My heart is in the right place.
 
Imagine how God must feel when we suffer or put ourselves in danger.   As intense as this is, take it to the next level – people who are perpetuating evil and the community of self interest.  The emotions would be raw, blunt, and on the edge of being out of control.  Words like “Doom to Assyria, weapon of my anger.  My wrath is a cudgel in his hands!  I send him against a godless nation, against the people I'm angry with.  I command him to strip them clean, rob them blind, and then push their faces in the mud and leave them.” (Isaiah 10.5, 6) 
 
The emotions are real but they do not need to be in control.  Turn them over and take the energy and put it into action.  Do what you can for those you love.  Let them know they are on your hearts.  Take their situation to God in faith, leaving it for the Spirit’s action.  And finally love those you love – deeply, fully, and without reservation. 
 
God’s nurturing us.  We can nurture those we love.