Controlled by our Emotions

What a joy to have many of you at the Exchange last Sunday!

Jennifer and I want each of you to know you have a place in the body of Christ. Two things we want you experience each week…

Jesus

a church body where you know you belong

*Our next opportunity to join us at the Exchange is the first Sunday of September. Fill out a connection card and let us get a chance to give you a proper welcome to Beech Springs Church.

1 Samuel 25 (Something a little different today…) Instead of just reading the scriptures today, I want to tell you a story of a man who let his emotions control his life. And as a result, he lost everything.

Just to set the stage for this story…

Emotions and feelings are a good thing. They are a part of how God made us.

emotions bring us closer together

emotions stir up our courage

emotions protect us

the Holy Spirit often guides through emotions

But our emotions were never meant to run our lives. We were not meant to be constantly driven by our emotions, erratic, unpredictable, unstable, and ultimately abusive to the world around us.

Harsh and badly behaved

1 Samuel 25:2–3 “And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite.”

A reputation for harsh and reckless reactions reveal a heart ruled by emotions.

Proverbs 14:29 “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.”

Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Notice this, Nabal had everything he could have ever wanted. He was wealthy beyond measure. He wanted for nothing. …but for some reason he was still unhappy.

No amount of money, or opportunity, or freedom, or power, or processions can ever bring you true JOY.

Philippians 4:11–13 “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

We like to quote the last line, “I can do all things…”

But its the verses before that that tell us how we “can do all things.”

It’s when we have known good times and bad times, and have learned to let them both go…

We don’t allow our anger or bitterness or even sadness rule our hearts. We know those are just emotions, but Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever!

Because all that really matters in the end for me (and for Paul) was Jesus Christ and him crucified!

(Get back to the story) Nabal Reviled David’s men

1 Samuel 25:5–14 “So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ” When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage. But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed (reviled) at them.”

The word for railed/reviled there means he cursed them harshly, abused them, insulted them with his words, and generally mistreated them.

Here’s how his own servants described him. (v.17) He is such a worthless man that no one can speak to.”

When emotions rule our heart, we become hardened and resistant to wisdom and love.

Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

"It is not possible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature."

- Pete Scazzero (Emotionally Healthy Spirituality)

I have a candle warmer in my study. I’ve always like candles. Especially Christmas Tree Pine Candles and Warm Sugar Cookie candles! But Anna got me turned on to something new…a candle warmer!! I liked candles but then they always melt and fall apart and seems like they just don’t last. But this candle warmer I got for my office has this heat lamp above it. And as long as the light is turned on, it heats that wax and the aroma fills my office. But as soon as I cut off that lamp, what starts to happen??? Slowly the wax cools. The aroma goes away and the wax hardens.

That’s how it is when we let our emotions control our heart. Our heart grows cold and hardened. And longer it stays that way the harder it gets.

Abigail saves the Foolish Man

1 Samuel 25:23–27 “When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.”

[skip]

1 Samuel 25:32–33 “And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand!”

Characteristics of the Fool

[Separate Slides for each one with the “un” word centered and underlined at the top of the slide; the definition centered underneath]

Unprocessed

The fool is unwilling to expose the woulds of the past to Jesus so they can be touched and healed.

Unhealed

The fool continues to carry around the pain and resentment of the past.

Unhealthy

The fool fails to recognize that my daily habits and choices are driving me towards burnout and breakdown.

The Antidote

The antidote to all that bitterness and pain is just what we saw in this first week of this series: HUMILITY

Abigail did not allow pride to get in the way of doing the right thing.

She put others first.

She chose to be generous.

She modeled humility for David, and Nabal and all the servants.

Psalms 51:15 The sacrifice that God wants is a humble spirit. God, you will not turn away someone who comes with a humble heart and is willing to obey you.

"The combination of emotional health and contemplative spirituality unleashes the Holy Spirit inside us so that we might experience and know the power of an authentic life in Christ."

- Pete Scazzero (Emotionally Healthy Spirituality)

I realize a message like this hits close to home. None of us want to believe that we are or have been Nabal.

But let me just put it this way. Here is a question that I have asked myself and the Holy Spirit for a large part of the last 10 years of my life:

What part(s) of my life is still unprocessed? What rooms in the interior of my life are locked tight so that no one can get in, not even me?

Aren’t you tired? Won’t you give that to Jesus today? Won’t you start the process of letting go? Unlock the door and take a chance on the healing power of Jesus.