A Therapist's Dream...

Nehemiah 2:2-3 Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart." Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, "Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?"

For those of you who don't know me personally, I am a Christian therapist. So, when I see people in the bible sharing their emotions so openly, I can't help but take pause and go into a little "depth" about it.

This is from an internet commentary. Enjoy...

The record of Nehemiah 2:2-3 helps us see Nehemiah’s emotions.

First, he had great sorrow when he heard of the troubles in Jerusalem. Now he had great fear before the king. Those who please God are not those who manage to avoid facing emotional fears and griefs, but those who conquer them to do God’s will despite the hardships.

We, clearly understand why Nehemiah was had sorrow (sadness), however, the account doesn't directly state why Nehemiah was fearful, but if we would put ourselves in his place we can see several reasons why we might be fearful.

He was about to make a great request of the greatest ruler on the face of the earth. One would not lightly enter such a request. There was the possibility that the king could become so angry he could punish Nehemiah. Or at the least he could deny the request and demand that Nehemiah stay in Shushan and not leave.

In any case, the possibilities were so important to Nehemiah that he feared for the result.

This commentary, also, says that it was improper for servants of the king to allow their personal lives to affect their service and demeanor before the king, but Nehemiah’s sorrow had become obvious.

Nehemiah makes his request of the king.Nehemiah responded first by expressing great respect for the king. He said, “Let the king live forever!” This is similar to the modern expression, “Long live the king!” This was a common expression for praising the king. It showed people valued the king and wanted his service as king to continue.

In alignment with those words, wisdom would teach us to speak respectfully to people in positions of power, especially when we have a great request to make of them. Nehemiah then explained that it was only reasonable for him to be troubled considering the problems in his homeland. The city where his fathers had lived and been buried now lay in waste and its gates consumed by fire. This was Nehemiah’s concern, so he used the opportunity to honestly speak to the king about it.

Alot of times, in working with clients (especially clients in the church), they have learned to deny or minimize their feelings, which they believe is a way of being more "faithful." I think Nehemiah, clearly, shows us in this chapter, that we are to be honest about our feelings AND be RESPECTFUL with them at the same time.

God created us with feelings for a reason. Denying them would be denying a part of God's creation in us.