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  • It’s Okay to Feel Your Feelings

    Posted on August 10th, 2012 rhonda No comments

    “Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet,

    but he shouted all the more . . . “

    Mark 10:48

    Have you ever had someone tell you not to be angry or not to cry?  I have.  It only made me more angry.

    I have come to the conclusion that a lot of people do not handle other people’s distress well.  When they see someone crying, grieving, yelling, groaning, complaining, they don’t know what to do.  It makes them uncomfortable.  So they tell the distressed person to stop crying out.

    People have said that Bartimaeus was rebuked because people thought he would be bothering Jesus.  I’m not sure.  Maybe the crowd rebuked Bartimaeus because he just made them nervous.  In those few seconds or minutes between Bart’s crying out and Jesus’s response, people didn’t know what would happen.  Someone’s going through an emergency, and people aren’t sure who would step up.  Have you ever endured an uncomfortable silence during a conversation?  There was an awkward pause, and you felt a pressure on you to say or do something to ease the tension.  That’s what I think was happening.

    My word of wisdom today is emotion.  Most people don’t want to feel bad, which is understandable.  Ups & downs are a normal and frequent part of life.  No one can feel good all the time.  When life takes a downturn, all of us have to learn how to feel bad and keep living in a graceful way.  We still have to praise God and be obedient.  We still have to treat other people well; and we still have to treat ourselves well.  We cannot tell other people to be silent when they are in pain.  We should ask God (and sometimes other people) for help when we’re in pain.  Kudos to Bart for being persistent.

    Fortunately, Jesus understands our feelings and can tolerate them.  He healed Bart, and everyone kept walking.