All The Feels | Week 7 | Bill Bush

The big idea

Sad isn't bad — sadness is an emotion to be understood and surfed toward God, not swum straight at or run from.

Sadness feels like something to escape or deny, but it's actually a wave to learn to surf rather than a threat to fight or flee. Using David's honest cry in Psalm 13, we can learn to clarify what's really making us sad, cry out to God about it, and cling to His unfailing love even before the relief comes.

Point 1 of 5

Pastor Bill walks through Psalm 13:1-2 where David cries out 'how long' God will forget him, showing that David's deepest pain isn't just his circumstances (being hunted) but feeling disconnected from God's promise. He illustrates this with his own family story: his wife's sadness over their youngest leaving for college in England turned out to be about the end of an entire parenting season and a buried sense of identity, not just the distance.

Point 2 of 5

In Psalm 13:3-4 David begs God to 'turn and answer' and restore the sparkle to his eyes, and Pastor Bill notes David isn't first asking for the sadness to end but for the relationship to be restored. He points to Job's blunt complaints to God (Job 10:1-3) and to Jesus crying 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' on the cross, quoting David's own Psalm 22, to show God welcomes raw lament rather than polished prayers.

Point 3 of 5

Pastor Bill recounts Jesus in Gethsemane sweating blood and asking the Father to 'take this cup from me' before submitting with 'not my will, but thy will be done.' He uses this to show that asking God for another way isn't unfaithful, but the posture ultimately has to land on surrender.

Point 4 of 5

David ends the psalm with 'but I trust in your unfailing love' and turns to singing, and Pastor Bill explains that the Hebrew word behind 'trust' means to cling or hold on to, an action word, not a feeling. He warns that when we cling to fear and frustration instead of God's love (chesed, His never-ending love), we chase after anything that stops the pain — which is how affairs and addictions start.

Point 5 of 5

Pastor Bill turns the sermon on himself, confessing that while coaching his wife through her sadness about their daughter leaving for college, he broke down and realized he had been the one in denial, sitting in the sand while she was at least in the water. He names his fear of feeling like a failed provider and prays honestly about it rather than pretending it isn't there.

Take it into your week

Pastor Bill's charge is to learn to surf sadness rather than swim straight at it or deny it exists.