The Nehemiah 52 Day Challenge

The last time we looked at Nehemiah Chapter 5, we focused on the anger that Nehemiah had as well as the wise confrontation he gave to the Jewish leaders who were oppressing the people for their own personal gain. Today, we are again going to look at anger and acknowledge the oppression it causes, but this will be from the perspective of those who were or are being oppressed. Please read Chapter 5 now and notice verse 1. This will be our springboard today. Verse 1 “Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews.” I am going to give the connection from Nehemiah to health right away today. The connection is this – our immune system is affected by our emotions. Yes, this is true, but even more true is that our immune system is negatively affected by our negative emotions and especially those that are not expressed. Anger is a very strong emotion; let’s talk about this again, but first let’s revisit gratitude. We have already discussed the power of gratitude. Gratitude is healthy for our brains, our bodies, and our beliefs. Gratitude improves mood, metabolism, sleep, digestion, and a host of other aspects of our person. It also affects those around us. We won’t discuss this again but remember that the practice of gratitude is to be a daily part of our health plan. It has a positive impact on our bodies and brains. On the other hand, negative emotions depress our mood; they depress the immune system and metabolism; they depress energy and motivation; they cause stress. While certain negative (or unpleasant) emotions on the short term are necessary for survival and are certainly a normal part of life, ongoing negative emotions, especially those that cause oppression, are stifling which leads to internal stress, which leads to inflammation, which leads to disease. After all, you are already aware that such emotions are able to increase blood pressure. This in itself is enough to harm different organs of the body. Anger Leading to Oppression Please consider the emotion of anger and the concept of oppression that results from it. The men and their wives were clearly “angry” about the oppression they were experiencing. This oppression was not short term. It caused family ramifications that were not at all pleasant nor warranted. These ramifications included mortgaging their fields and vineyards, borrowing money, and subjecting their sons and daughters to slavery. Do we need any more evidence of oppression? Wouldn’t you be angry? Wouldn’t you feel oppressed? Wouldn’t you feel like giving up? On top of this, wouldn’t you feel the stress and exhaustion from going through so much just to live? Concern for Women While anger spurs one to action, anger resulting from long term oppression or indignation can cause sickness. Our emotional stress affects our immune system and is able to depress its function; this affects men and women, but I would like to discuss women in particular. Research shows (remember this is not an academic work here - so I will not cite any sources, but please look into this yourself) that our internal stress leads to autoimmune diseases and that women are the ones who suffer from these the most. Autoimmune diseases have been on the rise in the last 40 years (especially in women) and the changes we see in the bodies and the lives of women support the fact that women are indeed under more stress. Not only are they taking care of their families (if they have children) but they are also working and managing many things outside of their homes. This can become overwhelming to women and as a result, their emotions and their bodies cannot handle the stress in a healthy way. Thus, an autoimmune disease might develop in their bodies. These include such conditions as fibromyalgia, Hashimoto’s disease, skin conditions and many other health problems. Please do not forget the fact that women who have had children have already experienced much stress on their bodies. In addition, women go through changes as they age which includes a shift in their metabolism and hormone production. These are bodily processes that need to be acknowledged and nourished. The reason this is relevant is the fact that many women might resent or become angry at what is required of them on a day-to-day basis. They might internalize this and put on a bold front never admitting their frustrations and anger and never requesting help. On top of this, they might feel stifled because they think that if they are not being “the perfect mom” or the “perfect wife”, they have failed. How untrue! This might lead to the feeling that they are being taken advantage of or being taken for granted which would cause even more anger. Why do I think this might be a problem? Because I deal with this, and if I deal with something, I am sure that others do as well. So, admit if you are angry and let’s deal with it the way wisdom would instruct us. Admit if you have failed to ask for help or to communicate along the way. Admit if you have trusted in your own efforts to “succeed” with your family and have forgotten the reminder in Psalms, “In vain you rise up early…children are a blessing from the Lord.” So, in other words, “Quit wearing yourself out to get rich,” even if it means rich in the “success of the perfect family.” Rest in the Lord – Remember the “every 7th” concept we talked about earlier. Maybe women should rest “every 7th” and receive hugs and help rather than review the grocery list for the next 7 days.