When disaster strikes, let go!

It really is OK.
We don't have to be emotionless.
We don't have to feel that we must "be strong."
Showing emotion when disaster strikes is perfectly normal and natural.

Sometimes we Christians are tempted during a crisis to try to appear strong. To be a rock for others during a storm.
In our society, we must be overloaded with testosterone, because the prevailing attitude is that you are weak if you cry. If you show emotion there is something wrong. People sometimes look down on others when they let their grief bubble to the surface.
I'm here to tell you that is just not right. Crying doesn't mean that you are weak. It doesn't mean that you are a baby.
In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus wept. And He is our all-powerful Savior, as we have said before.

                         Jesus wept. (John 11:35)

Why did Jesus weep? Was He mourning for Lazarus?
Nope.
He knew that God was going to raise him from the dead. He saw that; He knew it.
He wept because He saw the pain in Mary and Martha. He loved them and hurt with them, in His heart.

God has created us as emotional people -- when a crisis comes, when disaster hits, we need to let those emotions out.  It's OK to cry. And I don't mean just sit there silently and let a tear course down our cheek. I mean the kind of gut-wrenching sobs that express our greatest fears and grief, the letting go and being as loud as we need to be, to ease our hearts. I could be wrong, but I don't think that David, the man after God's own heart, was quiet when he anguished on the floor of his chamber, overwhelmed with his guilt after his affair with Bathsheba and the murder that made it possible. I don't think that when he cried out for his son, Absalom, that he did it in a whisper. God knows the depth and the magnitude of our emotions.

And He also knows that sometimes we are so wrenched with pain that we can't find words to express it. We don't even know how to pray in our agony.

                In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. (Romans 8:26)

It is not healthy to bottle it up and pretend it doesn’t exist. At some point in the future any little thing could trigger an emotional explosion that could do great damage. Let it out!

Here is a truth from our Bible: When we are weak, He is strong.

             But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (II Cor. 12:9)

Our weakness can be used by God to show His strength -- both to us, and to those around us. If we don't show our emotions, or the depth of our grief, there is no opportunity for God to use us for His glory. And we are working ourselves unnecessarily. We need to relax, to let go, and allow God to comfort us in our crisis times.

Read verses 21, 32. It is also OK to question God.
No, really, it is!  It is ok to say “God I do not understand why this is happening to me. I don’t understand what you are trying to do in my life.”  Then we need to spend quiet time with Him, and allow Him to work with us. He may show us His plan, or we may need to fully trust Him to show us later. But it is always OK to tell Him that we don't understand, and ask for wisdom.

If we are going through a crisis we must realize that prayer must be a priority, and that it is ok to allow our emotions to be expressed.