All the Feels

I had a great little study today, all about the feels! Which I feel like has been a pretty big theme for me for the last little while, so I'm glad it all tied together in this study. God is great. Yes indeed.

So I started off in John 11, where Christ is told by his disciples that a dear friend of his, Lazarus is sick and dying. Instead of immediately coming to the rescue to prevent Lazarus's death, Christ recognizes that there is a bigger lesson here at play. He says, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." (John 11:4)
Isn't that an interesting choice of words? For those who know the story, we all know Lazarus does indeed kick the bucket. He does not receive a "get out of death free card" from Jesus. No sir. So why did Christ say his sickness wasn't unto death? Why didn't he tell people that Lazarus would die, but that he'd bring him back to life and everything would be ok? Stay tuned to find out!
Christ receives his answer from the spirit about what he is to do about this situation. He recognizes that in order to really drive his Father's message home, he needed to stay a few extra days instead of leaving immediately for Lazarus. Talk about humility. Knowing he had the power to prevent death or even to bring him back to life, but following God's planning and timetable NOT his own. What a guy.

He greets Martha, then a little further on, Mary and others who are mourning with the family over Lazarus's death. Upon seeing Martha, he tells her that she will see the glory of God if she believes. She shares that she does believe Lazarus will live again, once the resurrection comes. She testifies that she believes Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Christ that will allow the resurrection to come to pass. He then approaches Mary, and seeing the suffering she and others around her are experiencing "groaned in the spirit and was troubled." (34) Wait a second. Didn't he just tell Martha that her brother would rise again and everything would be fine? Why was he troubled when he could tell Mary everything would be alright? And again, why wouldn't he just tell them what was about to happen? One word. LOVE. Christ's love for each one of us runs so deeply that he feels with us. The next verse has honestly become one of my favorite verses in the bible:

"Jesus wept." John 11:35

Christ wept. He was alive. He was human (well, partly). His soul was troubled. He felt the pain of loosing a brother, a loved one, and a friend that everyone else there was experiencing. He understood the confusion, pain, doubt, darkness, and hopelessness that surrounded him. He didn't try to cheer everyone up by telling them some good news, cracking a joke, or just telling them to toughen up. Christ chose to comfort and mourn with Mary and Martha in the moment that they needed him to empathize most. Because he loved them. LOVE. It always comes back to love!!! What an incredible person. Honestly, this verse humanized Christ for me in a way that none other has. I really really love it. More than I can type, so hopefully you get an idea of just how beautiful this is to me.
He knew he was going to bring Lazarus back to life shortly, but he chose to sit with these loved ones of his, mourn with them, and feel with them.

So many things I've been watching and reading lately have been coming back to this theme: IT'S OK TO FEEL. It is necessary to embrace all aspects of our emotions (in a healthy way of course) in order for us to fully learn and grow from our experience here in mortality. The Shame researcher, Brene Brown, points out that when we numb the "dark" or negative emotions, like sadness, we unintentionally numb the positive, like joy. When watching Pixar's latest movie, "Inside Out," the theme that stuck out most to me was the power sadness has in our lives. Sadness is actually what has the power to connect us in our most difficult of circumstances- it is because of sadness that others are drawn to us when we are struggling and willing to help. Once we know others care, are there to help, and understand where we are coming from or what we are going through, our level of joy is that much deeper and that much more powerful after our trial or negative experience.

Coming back to my study, because Christ took the time to FEEL the good, the bad, the hope, and the heartache with his loved ones, the miracle he performed through Heavenly Father in bringing Lazarus back to life was all the more powerful. He wants us to learn from each experience we have, whether positive or negative, and be able to fully feel each stage along the way. It's ok to feel what you're feeling. What matters is how you allow your experiences with your own feelings to help you connect and elevate/comfort others when they need it. Some times things will be great, and some times they will be the worst. And that's ok. Christ will be there through it all, and through his sacrifice, not only will we be saved from death- but we will live.

Because of his gift, how will you choose to live? Will you embrace life to it's fullest and feel all there is to feel? Will you allow your experiences to help you empathize with others?

Hope all is well! love you!
Emily