From The Inside Out

Have you ever seen this movie? I've seen it about a million times, and after I'm done writing this blog I will probably go watch it again! It's a family favorite here at our house, and you can find us trying to decide between this movie and "Finding Dory" often. I've thought a lot about emotions recently, and how we as humans deal with them and as I thought some more this movie popped up in my mind. So I thought I would take the opportunity to use the characters in this movie to showcase all of the things I have been thinking and feeling lately :)

Joy

"Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again-rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4)

This is joy, she's bubbly, outgoing, fun and makes sure that Riley (the girl in the movie) is happy as much as possible! Whenever Riley starts to feel down, joy jumps in and reminds her of the good things in life. Joy is always good company to keep, and one emotion that we always want to stick around just a little bit longer. In the dictionary joy is defined as a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. It's synonyms are words such as delight, glee, jubilation and many others. But joy only has two antonyms: misery and trial. This is where my thought process has been lately, and as I've focused on Joy as my theme for this past month of May, I've seen something and witnessed something I've never truly understood before. Joy, in itself, is a decision you make. No matter what trial or misery may befall you, no matter how good or bad your day may be. Joy is a choice, and my friends, if you have Jesus you have joy! Jesus is joy and if we but look to Him in our darkest moments and ask for His guidance, He will help us choose joy!

Sadness

"Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us." (Ecclesiastes 7:3)

Yup, you read that right. Sorrow is better than laughter. You may be confused since joy was just in the spotlight but here is the reason sadness may be better. In the verse above it says that it has a refining influence on us. Refining, what an interesting word....it means to remove impurities or unwanted elements from a substance or to improve something by making small changes, in particular make (an idea, theory or method) more subtle and accurate. This means that although joy is an amazing emotion to feel, without sadness we would never be made better, never change for the good or get the proper refinement that we need. So, bask in the joy you feel, but don't forget to learn from the sadness too!
                                                                            

Fear

"Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment." (Proverbs 9:10)

"But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you." (Psalms 56:3)

I chose two different verses for this one, because in reality there are two different kinds of fears. Healthy and unhealthy.  Healthy would be categorized as fears of a hot stove, or of your child falling down those sketchy steps (everyone has steps that they just pictured haha) or the fear of the Lord. We should fear God, think of all of His majesty, all of the things He is capable of doing. He created ALL of us and ALL of this earth. What an amazingly terrifying, wonderful Creator we adore! Unhealthy fears are the fears of thing such as what you're going to wear tomorrow for that party, or what so-and-so is feeling about you or saying about you, or the thought of not fitting in. These are fears that are out of our control entirely, especially when it involves other people. These are the types of fears that we should take to the Lord. He is the only one who can face them for you.

Disgust

"Don't bad-mouth each other, friends. It's God's Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk. You're supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it. God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others?" (James 4:11-12 The Message)

I normally don't read from The Message Bible, but I liked the use of words in this one. Especially that last line! When I think of disgust I mainly bubble it down to judgment. If you feel disgust towards someone or something (like celery for example....) you have judged it and weighed it to be worthy of your worst reaction and nothing more. In this case it can be good or bad disgust. Good as in feeling disgusted by the Devil and his evil deeds he does on this earth, or bad as in feeling disgusted with a person for something they said or did. We are to pour out grace on the least of these, just as Jesus did. Jesus didn't take time to dine with the rich and famous (although he was well known enough for his miracles that he could have!) Instead he sat amongst tax collectors, blind men, prostitutes and many more lost souls. Feeling disgusted by evil is one thing, feeling disgusted with the person is another. Hate the sin, not the sinner.

Anger

"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires." (James 1:19-20)

The last character that we will be looking at is anger. Now, I'm probably not the first person to say that anger is well.....angering (is that a word? it is now...) He pops up out of the blue sometimes, causing you to pause and ask yourself, "What was that flare of anger even about?" Other times you use him for self defense, or even to push people away. Anger is not healthy my friends, and the Bible tells us ways we can help control it. (Don't worry, I struggle with controlling my temper sometimes so I get it. Don't believe me? Ask my poor mother >.<) It tells us to be quick to listen and slow to speak. To spend more time paying attention to what others are saying and less time trying to think of ways we can talk back to them. Getting caught up in an argument can be hard, but we need to step back and let the other person speak their heart before we go full force and stomp on it.

So there ya have it! All of the emotions showcased in this funny, yet relatable movie! I leave you with one last video to watch, or better yet to listen to. "From The Inside Out" By Hillsong is a great song to listen to. The lyrics speak truth, but remind us of God and the change He can make in us, no matter what emotions we may have throughout the day. 

Let us, as a nation, commit to letting Jesus be our joy, letting sadness refine us, letting our fear both healthy and unhealthy point us to God, judging less and listening more, and extending His grace and love to everybody always. Consume us from the inside out Lord! Amen