Navigating Negative EmotionsSample

More Room Than We Think

Our life is never static. We are surrounded by circumstances. The good ones are easily remembered, and we would like them to abound in our lives. But what can we say about the bad ones? Those that strongly mark us, we call tragedies.

Nothing can prepare us for when tragedy strikes, no matter how much we imagine it or think about how it will be when something bad happens. We cannot have a complete and real idea of what we will feel or how we will react. Tragedies appear like a thief in the night, without warning. Though we cannot do anything to completely avoid tragedy, we are not meant to be destroyed by it. Our inability to prepare, to control, is only matched by our ability to respond.

When tragedy strikes, it is the way we respond that most determines its effect. There is room for sadness. A lot of room. There is room for anger, confusion, and discouragement. These are natural responses to tragedy. Our emotions are not wrong. They enable us to cope with pain and set in motion the mechanisms that help us process and overcome a situation that endangers our lives. We often try to bypass the pain, thinking that there is only room for acknowledgment or healing.

We have the capacity for both.

Negative emotions are so heavy that they seem to fill our entire atmosphere. But there is room for more. Room for hope. Room for learning. Room for perseverance. Room for intimacy. For forgiveness. For growth.

We are much stronger than we think.

We cannot prepare for tragedy. But in its wake, we can keep breathing. And impossibly, we discover that our hearts, our souls, and our minds expand, revealing a greater capacity than we would have imagined ourselves capable of. We will go through complicated places where it seems there is no way out, but then our faith and trust in the Lord sustain us. He has promised to rescue us.

Lord, I thank You for the good moments I have had in my life, as well as for the bad ones; I know that I have not been alone. You don’t leave me in my pain. You are my hope and my refuge, my safe place where I can rest. Empty my soul of all that hurts me, so I may be renewed and healed.

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