Cracking the Exterior
Theme for the Week: Unstuffing Our Emotions
Thursday, October 18, 2001
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: I am in pain and distress; may your salvation, O God, protect me (Psalm 69:29).
Bonus Reading: Psalm 69:1-3, 13-18
A friend remarked to me, "You seem troubled. Is anything bothering you?"
"Me? No, I'm fine."
"You don't seem fine to me," he persisted. "You're acting like you might be depressed about something."
"No, really. I'm fine. I guess I've just been a little pressured lately."
The truth was, there was an issue that I urgently needed to talk with my father about, but was afraid to even bring up. So I just carried on as if everything were okay.
Later, my friend again asked how things were going. This time, I got brave and told him. "I'm sorry about what happened," he said, "but I appreciate your honesty, and think it's great that you're doing something constructive with a difficult situation.'
Soon I began confiding in this friend about other problems. He'd say something like, "Here's how I'd feel in your situation. I'd be angry because.
Do you feel angry?""
Through the gracious work of the Spirit, I began to be honest with myself and with God. I experienced the pain I'd never allowed myself to feel. This was hardly pleasant, but acknowledging the hurt in my life was my first step toward relief.
Bryan R. Salminen in No Ordinary Men
My Response:
To cultivate a friendship that goes deeper than surface facts, I need to .
Thought to Apply:
The experience of the whole gamut of emotions is a part of the human condition, the inheritance of every man.
John Powell (journalist, author)
Adapted from: No Ordinary Men (Concordia, 2000) with permission.
For your convenience, No Ordinary Men is available in the ChristianityToday.com bookstore.
Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc./Men of Integrity magazine.
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Lord, let me grow to be—like David and Jonathan—a whole man: physically and mentally strong, emotionally expressive.
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