The Burden of Emotion

THE BURDEN OF EMOTION

People are broken, and emotions spill out all over the place. We often make others carry what belongs to us.

I look at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was in such anguish that His sweat was as great drops of blood. Yet He did not pour His anguish onto those around Him. He took it to His Father.

All He asked of His disciples was to stay awake and pray with Him. Even in His suffering, He did not make them responsible for what He was going through.

Then came Peter, drawing his sword and cutting off the servant's ear. Jesus, already carrying the weight of what lay before Him, had another man's emotional reaction to deal with. He touched the ear and healed the man.

What a picture of humanity. One man overwhelmed by emotion strikes out, while another, in the greatest anguish of His life, brings healing.

When Jesus was carrying His cross, Simon of Cyrene was compelled to carry it for Him. Simon shouldered the burden, but it was still Jesus' path to walk.

There is a difference between helping someone carry their burden and taking ownership of their journey.

People have called me emotionless. But I am far from emotionless. I have simply learnt to recognise my emotions and take them to the Father rather than spill them onto those around me.

I still fail at times, but I am learning what belongs to me to work through and what belongs to another.

We are called to bear one another's burdens, but that does not mean carrying another person's responsibility for how they behave.

Imagine a society where we understood this distinction. Where we could stand beside someone in their suffering without adding to it. Where we could help shoulder the weight without taking over their path.

Jesus showed us both in His final hours.

He took His anguish to the Father, healed the wound caused by another man's reaction, and accepted help carrying a cross that was still His to bear.

Perhaps emotional maturity is not about feeling less, but about recognising what is ours to carry to the Father.

“Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” — Galatians 6:2

“For every man shall bear his own burden.” — Galatians 6:5

The Father is where we take what belongs to us, rather than placing it upon others.