Emotional Freedom

Sometimes Christians tend to think that emotions are not good.  While there is something to be said about 'emotionalism' and letting our emotions rule our experience, emotions are given as a barometer of what is going on with us.  When you look at the story of Jesus, He displayed a whole range of emotions--"Jesus wept", He threw out the money changers and He smiled upon the children who snuggled in His lap. 

Sometimes it is easier to bury our emotions than to deal with them.  I suppose that is because dealing with them can cause us to have to re-live them.  Last week, we talked about the 'emotional clearing house' of the brain which checks all incoming stimuli against our experience.  We all react differently to past pain.  Some people build emotional walls, others block out their past so that they can't recall any details, and still others wear their pain out there like little buttons just waiting for someone to push them.  None of these ways cause the person to feel free.

Several years ago, when I was able to go to counseling and come to emotional freedom, I said, "Wow! Everybody wants this!" But as time went by, I discovered that I was wrong, not everyone does want freedom---because emotional freedom comes with a price.....or should I say several prices.

1. First, in order to be free of the pain, you have to allow yourself to feel it again. This is because the emotional part of the brain must link with the thinking part in order for freedom to be experienced. Some people don't want to pass through this---they have spent too much of their lives blocking themselves from feeling it to want to go through it or feel it again. So they go on in pain every day doing their best to hide it from others.
2. The second price for freedom is that it doesn't come without humility.  Pride is such an emotional binder. It keeps people stuck and unable to experience emotional freedom.  The interesting thing about pride is that it has two faces.  One face is pompous and exalts itself above others and the other face is self debasing and is always putting self down low.  Both of these stem from the same root of pride.  Pride must be renounced in order to experience freedom. 

 If the desire for freedom is bigger than those two barriers, then it is possible to be free.  The problem for most people is that they don't know they way.  I know I didn't.   Desire was not enough to bring me freedom.  Then I heard about some people who were dedicating themselves to seeing other people come to freedom.  I had been to counselors before, and although I might feel somewhat free for a while, it would always come back on me.  But this gave me hope.

When I went there and shared my story, I had never had anyone care about it the way that these people did.  And it was not just 'put on'---they genuinely cared about my story.  When I was able to share it all, they then took me to Jesus for each point of pain.  One by one the burdens fell off as Jesus took them.  I walked away such a different person that for one week afterwords other people were asking me, "What happened to you?"  I had not only come face to face with the things that had emotionally bound me, but I had also met Jesus as the only One who can bring emotional freedom.

If you are struggling and really have a heart desire for freedom, please contact me.  I would love to walk with you on the path to emotional freedom.

~Cindy Lou~

Inspired by Heart to Heart with Holley

A Restorer of Paths to Dwell In

     "And you shall be called, 'The restorer of paths to dwell in.'  This is God's promise to those who follow Him.  The path toward emotional healing is sometimes difficult to find...and there are not that many people out there who are true 'restorers'.  I suppose that is because we misunderstand the ministry of Jesus and fail to follow His example.  When someone is hurting it is uncomfortable.  We may want to 'fix' it, but we just don't know how.   

     Looking unto Jesus we find that the way that He dealt with people nearly always cut to the quick.  It was almost like He wanted to hear their story, and to care about their pain.  In fact, this is what was prophesied of Him..."A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory."  Jesus wants us to have victory in our lives and He is not one to wound the wounded, but always brings healing to those who affirmatively answer his probing question, "Wilt thou be made whole?" 

     I like to think of those 'paths' that Jesus wants for us to dwell in to be the neurological paths of our minds.  The  Bible says, "But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."  For many people there are things that keep this transformation from taking place.  Often, it is in the form of abuse---physical, sexual, emotional or spiritual.  

     I was talking with my brother on the phone earlier this evening.  He is currently visiting in the country of Nepal.  He was telling me about people in that country who believe that they are of a caste who don't have a right not to be beaten.  In other words, the social system they live in has ingrained in their minds that they are so low that others who are above them have the right to inflict bodily harm to them.  My brother is a soft-hearted individual and it is really difficult for him to watch others be mistreated and even more painful to him to think that some people truly believe that they deserve poor treatment.  But this is the nature of the world in which we live.
     How is it possible to change those pathways of the mind and 'renew' our minds bringing about transformation?  The human brain actually has three parts, the cortex (marked in blue), the lymbic system (red) and the brain stem (green).  The lymbic system is the emotional center of the brain.  It is like the emotional clearing house for all incoming stimuli.  When we get hurt emotionally, the emotional pain can become lodged there for a lifetime.  One of the reasons psychologists use talk therapy in helping people overcome the pain of their past is because language is created in the cortex.  Although the emotional part of the brain understands language, it cannot produce it.  That is why many times when we begin to talk about the things that hurt so deeply, the tears flow freely.  Unfortunately, we have been conditioned to think that tears are something to hide, something to pass tissue for....'Here, wipe that away!'  But we are rarely willing to share the tissue box with another---I mean, we will give it to them, but we don't often take every other tissue as they describe their pain to wipe the tears from our own eyes. 
     The path to emotional freedom is best walked hand in hand with another who really cares.  For me it was Catherine and Jack who were willing to take my hand and without crushing this bruised reed were able to lead me to judgment and victory.  I still struggle.  But I know that Jesus is beside me ready to tell me my story and rewrite the ending with glorious hope.  You are writing your story every day too.  Why not become a restorer of paths to dwell in,  by walking through someone's pain with them? 

~Cindy Lou Bailey

Inspired by Heart to Heart with Holley