Emotional Resiliency, Jesus, and You

This past year was some combination of roller coaster and whirlwind for me, and I have no interest in returning to it. Uninvited drama; emotional distress; relational tension; spiritual confusion. Sound familiar? We can’t go far into this life without encountering  such trouble, and neither did Jesus.

 

“He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will. And I know that I will not be put to shame” (Isaiah 53:3, 7; 50:7).

 

The Scripture’s witness is that Jesus felt profound emotional pain in his earthly life, and at the same time steadily carried himself forward. He did not fall apart; his center held; he kept his convictions; he did not give way to uncontrolled emotional distress. When disciples of Christ say they want to be more like him, wouldn’t the emotional resiliency of Jesus be the kind of thing worth exemplifying in our own lives?

 

Think of emotional resiliency as one’s ability to bear up under pressure without melting down, to adjust to changing circumstances without falling apart, to come back up after the whirlwind pulls you down. Jesus is the definition of such resiliency. But how did he do that? And can you and I grow into that maturity?

 

A deceased Dutch theologian has helped me find words for this when he writes, “Scripture, to denote the fullness of the life of God, uses not only adjectives but also substantives: it tell us not only that God is truthful, righteous, living, illuminating, loving and wise, but also that he is the truth, righteousness, life, light, love and wisdom” (Herman Bavinck).

 

Adjectives and substantives. That distinction is helpful to me in this way: God is not just a gracious God, He is the actual embodiment of grace. Since he IS grace, I know God in Christ will never not be grace for me. Unlike me, he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So then, when the swells and swales threaten to send me off, I draw upon the very substance of who Christ is. I secure myself to the All-sufficient, Unchanging One and pray Him in.

 

"O Lord, I am weak and you are strong. You are wisdom and righteousness for me. You are my holiness in my uncleanness. You are security for me, so right now, in the very place in my heart where I am most insecure and fearful, would you give me more of yourself. Not just so I can be more like you, but that I can have more of you even as you take possession of more of me."

 

Or, as C. S. Lewis put it, “If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire. If you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them.”

 

The point of emotional resilience is not personal self-interest. The more secure we are in our relationship with Christ, the more emotionally mature we will be. As a result, we’ll be increasingly easy to live and work with. The bandwidth of our reactions will narrow. Our neediness will diminish. And the more attractive we’ll be as an active witness to Christ.

 

Because trouble is loosed upon the world and our homes when Christians are not emotionally secure in Christ.