ManageYourEmotionsBook8.5x5.5_RevJULY.indd

Anger also surfaces in this account – expressed by Jesus Himself, no less.Twice in the passage we are told he “groaned” (see 11:33, 38, KJV) in response to His friend’s death.The word used for groaning in the original language indicates indignation and anger. Of course, coming from Jesus, this is a demonstration of righteous an- ger.Why? Because of physical death that is brought on by sin, along with the sense of loss and sorrow that accompany it. Certainly, He entertained thoughts of the cross on which He would die just a few days later -- the place where He would achieve victory over death. If Jesus got angry over death, then we certainly should expect to as well. I remember being gathered in the hospital Emergency Room around the body of a teenage boy killed in a car accident when his grieving grandmother lashed out, “Don’t start telling us that God is in this and that it’s all going to work out.” Such an out- burst, especially under these circumstances, is normal.What’s ab- normal, and also unhealthy, is remaining in such a state indefinitely. In addition to doubt and anger is the outpouring of tears.The Bible tells us that, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35), one of the two times recorded in Scripture that He cried (see Luke 19:41). One of the most difficult funerals I’ve ever preached was that of a teenage boy who was killed in a four-wheeler accident in the late 1990s.The most memorable part of the memorial service was the emotional eulogy delivered by the young man’s best friend. When I got up to finish the service, there was a tablespoon size puddle of tears on the pulpit; and long after they disappeared, a stain remained to remind me of that most grievous time. All tears are special, especially those that flow from despair – so special in fact that God collects them in a bottle (see Psalm 56:8). That said, don’t gauge grief by the amount or intensity of crying, as some people are more prone to crying than others. Having experienced these feelings produced by grief, let’s move now to the times you will need to process them, beginning with a season of receiving. Immediately after the death of Lazarus,

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