Sowing in Tears, Reaping in Joy

We are in a middle of a sermon series called “Psalms for the Season.” This church season of Lent is focused on us being on a journey. A journey in which we are to attempt to become closer to God or to reconnect with God.

We have been attempting to do that by having the Psalms help us focus on God and the ways that he impacts our lives and why we should desire to become closer to him. You can find our previous sermons on our You Tube Channel and Facebook page.

This week we are going to take a journey on the roller coaster of emotions that are a part of our lives here on earth. Our scripture comes from Psalm 126.

1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. 2 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

4 Restore our fortunes, o Lord, like streams in the Negev. 5 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

Please pray with me…

Have you ever taken a long trip. One of those trips that seem to never end. I flash back to the first time we drove to visit my grandparents in Florida. We drove straight through and got to the Florida state line after what seemed like a journey that took forever.

The sense of excitement and joy I felt since we had finally arrived. We are almost to our destination. I remember asking my father how much longer and him saying that we only had five more hours. That answer led me to other emotions: sadness and disappointment. I didn’t know if I could survive another five hours in the car.

(Transition)

Now imagine that you as a people group have gotten out of slavery and God is leading you to the promise land. You would be aware that the promise land is around a ten-day journey from where you were in captivity.

But because of some bad decisions that were made along the way some of the Jewish people were hoping to soon wrap up 40 years of these people wandering around, starting and stopping, before they entered the promise land.

The 40 days plus Sundays is our journey of Lent. Our journey can be a reminder to us of the forty years that the Israelites spent in the wilderness. We are on our own journey. A journey that has been ongoing since March 5th, Ash Wednesday.

We also may be ready for Palm Sunday to arrive and know that we are almost to Easter. But can you imagine being in the last 1/3rd of a 40-year journey. Thousands of people walking around awaiting the word that they are at their destination.

(Transition)

This Psalm is placed where it is on our Lenten journey to remind us of the emotions that the Jewish people would have gone through during these 40 years. They would have at times been joyful while at other times tears would have fallen.

I know that many of you have been on your own roller coaster of emotions this Lenten season. You have spent times of laughter and joy while other times facing sadness and hardships. Most of us, if not all of us, know that this is life: good, bad, and sometimes just plain ugly.

What our Psalm reminds us of is that God is with us through all of these times. God can turn the tears and weeping to times of joy. God does not abandon us during whatever season of life that we are in.

(Transition)

The Israelites in some ways had it easier. No matter where they were at, no matter what time of day or night they could look up and see that God was still with them. He was a cloud during the day and lightning at night. He never left them during their journey.

The Psalmist wants God to provide for him a constant sign like he had for those Israelites in the wilderness. A way for him to know that God is there with him, The Negev that is mentioned in our text was what we would call a dry creek bed most of the time. It was only filled for a short time every year.

The creek bed was able to be a reminder that God provided for his people. It would end up overflowing with water during the planting season to allow the plants to flourish. The Psalmist is asking God to provide a way for him to find God no matter what season of life he is in.

(Transition)

The disciples of Jesus would have been on an emotional journey just between Palm Sunday and the appearance of Jesus from our first reading. They would have witnessed a crowd of people welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem. Many of them recognizing what the disciples believed, Jesus is the Messiah.

They would have faced mixed emotions seeing Jesus turning over the tables in the temple and calling the temple a house for thieves instead of a house of prayer. They probably were trying to interpret how their Rabbi could say this about this most Holy place of worship.

They would have felt blessed to be able to eat the Passover meal with their Rabbi and have Jesus’ say to them how happy he was to get to spend this time with them. Only followed up by being told that he would soon be leaving them and one of them would be the cause.

That would lead to the fear and confusion of the arrest of Jesus right in front of their eyes and eventually Jesus being beaten and hung upon a cross. Jesus ended up being treated not as a victorious Messiah but as a common criminal.

Confusion, fear, and sadness would become their new emotions. If Jesus could be arrested, beaten, and placed upon a cross they could face the same fate. This led them to hide while they awaited what they probably believed was their fate.

That leads us to our first reading where Jesus shows up unannounced and greets his disciples by saying to them “what’s up.” OK that might not be what he said but his greeting understandably was a shock which created fear within them. A fear which would later be transformed to joy.

The disciples who had been told by Jesus what was going to happen were not prepared for what took place. Jesus told them that he would be with them again but the events that had occurred caused them to believe that what he had said must not be true until he showed them he was alive.

(Transition)

We need to be careful that we don’t have the same issue. It may be hard in the darkness that you may be facing right now to believe. It may be difficult for you to keep the faith. But our first reading can point out to us that even in the lowest of moments God appears and reminds us that he is with us.

I am not saying that in those moments of sadness and despair that it is always easy to keep the faith. I am not saying that you will not find yourself doubting. But what I am saying is for you to try to overcome those doubts, trust in God, and continue to stay in contact with God.

Christian Author and speaker Jennie Allen in her book “Untangle Your Emotions” speaks of our emotions and the importance of keeping the faith this way. (Read middle page 31)

Keeping in connection with God assists us in figuring out and working through the emotions we are facing. After all God is our creator therefore, he created the emotions that we are emoting. He formed us to be as Jennie Allen states as “people who feel.”

(Transition)

What she also wants to make sure is understood is that God can help but that there are also some who face depression and anxiety due to reasons that are not related to everyday problems. Some here today or online may need additional assistance from medication or counseling. There is nothing wrong with getting help outside of God. After all, God is the one who created the gifts within these individuals that are helping you.

What Allen does want to offer is a way for those that could benefit from help in untangling their emotions. She offers a five-step process for us to consider in helping us control our emotions instead of having our emotions have control of us. The steps are notice, name, feel, share, and choose.

(Transition)

When I started breaking down these five steps down for you it was going to be way longer than you would want my sermon to be. I would recommend if you want to investigate this further is to get her book. What I am going to do is use my own personal experience to help you understand how these steps would have helped me untangle my emotions.

The first step to being able to take control of our emotions is for us to be able to notice that we are feeling a specific way. This would beus recognizing or maybe at times someone else noticing that we are having an emotional response.

The example that I am going to be using is a feeling of sadness almost to the point of what I would call depression. This would occur a couple of times a year around September 18 and in February 17. I state it inthat order that I would feel them. September first and later on in February.

This occurred for years until I finally recognized that at specific times I was having these feelings. The fact that I was feeling this way at a specific time led me to ask the question Why? Why am I feeling this way during these specific times of year.

(Transition)

Let me stop for a moment and return to Allen’s book. I noticed my emotion, but I was lost on the reason why. It was unknown to me why this was occurring. What I needed to do next was name my emotion and untangle why this was taking place.

This led me to ask myself what specifically about these times of year caused me to have this reaction to take place, why September, why February. This was not a quick journey, but I eventually realized that these time frames marked the birth and death of my sister.

These dates had not come to my attention naturally. I was notfocusing on her birth and death, but I must have had something ingrained within me that remembered how I felt during her life. This was the hardest time of my life and although I consciously had forgotten, subconsciously my body had remembered.

(Transition)

That is what can make the journey difficult of untangling our emotions. We can end up not knowing what is happening within us, that is leading to us, to feel this specific way. That is why Allen focuses on the importance of having emotional maturity.

She defines this term as (Read page 120)

She wants us to start with the four main emotions which she lists as joy, anger, sadness, and fear. These four emotions have many other feelings underneath them which further gives us an understanding of what we are feeling.

For example, I name my emotion as sadness but how am I sad, am I lonely, do I feel helpless, or hopeless, or am I experiencing some form of grief? She states that research shows that “the more specifically you are able to describe what is going on inside you, the more flexible you can become in the face of that emotion.”

For me it was grief of not only the loss of my sister but also of what I would have called an almost perfect life up to that point. I was subconsciously reflecting back to all I had lost during that stage of life

(Transition)

The third step is for us to feel. We should allow ourselves if it is appropriate to feel the feeling that we are feeling. We should take the time to let our body do and be what it needs to have happen.

Allen believes that by allowing the emotion, instead of trying to stop it, we shorten the length of time it will affect us. I have found this to be true. By expecting the feeling and if needed allowing the feeling I can now find myself in that state for a very short time if at all.

The time frame is shortened because I have noticed it and named it. I am now in control of the emotion instead of having the emotion be in control of me. I get to decide how this emotion is going to impact me.

(Transition)

The next step is for us to share what is happening to us. This can be very difficult. It may be just because we feel weak by admitting this emotion has controlled us or it could be coming up with the words to express what we are feeling.

If you can’t tell this is not the first time I have shared what I was going through. I have found the more often I share this segment of my life the easier it becomes. The less control the emotion has over me.

But here is an important point, make sure that the first time you share what you have or are experiencing that you do that with someone safe. Someone that you trust. A person can do more harm than good if they do not react appropriately to what you are sharing.

Over time if you are comfortable, you can share what you are feeling with more people. You will recognize you are in control and those around you will not have the same impact based off of how they react.

(Transition)

The last step is for us to choose. We need to choose what we are going to do. Allen emphasizes that what we choose needs to have God be a part of the decision. The more often we have the faith to trust God to help us the easier it becomes to rely on him.

Allen uses the disciples as an example. Early on in their ministry they are in a boat with Jesus. Jesus is sleeping and a storm comes up in the boat starts shaking. The disciples are facing fear of the unknown of what is about to happen to them.

Their reaction is to wake up Jesus and ask for him to save them. Their emotions overtook them. But over time they end up imprisoned, rejected, and beaten but they will not be as affected by these events. Why?

Allen says it this way, “They went from people afraid to die in a boat with him to people willing to lay down their lives because of him. Because he cared for them. Just as he cares for you.” We need to have the faith that through whatever emotions we are facing that God is with us.

Let me go back to the beginning of the sermon where my emotions were changed due to the unknown circumstances of how far we were away from my grandparents. Knowing became a way to change my perspective.

I no longer got excited when we reached the Florida state line except for the free freshly squeezed orange juice. I would begin to get excited around Tampa because that was around three hours and really excited around Fort Myers because I knew it was less than an hour.

Knowledge on why you are feeling what you are feeling is the first step. The next becomes what you are going to choose to do with that knowledge. I could have continued to get excited and disappointed when we reached the Florida state line, but I chose to hold off my excitement until we got a little further down the road.

Conclusion

Many if not all of the Psalms deal with the emotions that the author is feeling. They are dealing with God and have an emotion usually based off of how that relationship is going. God created us with emotions.

It would be hard for us to even imagine what life would be without emotion. The problem becomes when we allow our emotions to control us instead of us using our emotions to help us understand what is happening around us and within us.

Let us work towards using our emotions for good. Let us desire to allow our emotions to lead us to interact differently and more positively with those around us. Let us decide that we are going to live our lives showing those around us what it means to follow a God who cares so much for us.

And finally let us be a church that is a safe place for a person to share their journey with us. A place where we hear and praise those that are willing to share the good, the bad, and the ugly of their relationship with God and what is happening to them. God loves each one of us and wants us to show his love to those around us.

Please pray with me…