Category Archives: Christian Life

Every possibility

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One of the ways my brain works is to run through almost every possible contingency related to a situation. That’s helpful, for instance, in traveling. Well, maybe not so helpful in that I tend to overpack based on all those possibilities, but it’s rare that I am without an item I need, and if I do forget something, it’s imprinted on my brain for next time.

That tendency is also helpful in our ladies ministry at church when, for instance, I noticed that in a college student gift bag we had assembled,  the pointed ends of some loose pens were aimed right at some pudding cups. I could just imagine the recipient discovering a oozing pudding cup punctured by the pens during the jostling the gift bag would have taken en route. So I rearranged the package, also retrieving the soft Little Debbie snack cakes from underneath a heavier item and putting them on top.

When my children were little I had this amazing ability to foresee ways in which they could get hurt doing something. That could lend itself to obsessive over-protectiveness (and I’m sure my husband thought I probably did lean that way sometimes), but I think, kept in balance, it saved us all from a number of emergency room visits.

This tendency can cause problems, though, when it degenerates into excessive anxiety-producing “what if” thoughts. Sometimes what-if questions, like fear, can be helpful: for instance, if we’re crossing a busy street and fearful of being hit by a vehicle, we’ll watch the traffic lights, cross at the crosswalk, and be alert to where other vehicles are and what they’re doing. That fear goes too far, though, when it’s paralyzing, when we can’t even step into a clear street because a car might come upon us sooner than we think we can react.

And I have to confess I have made myself miserable, scared myself to death, and been nearly paralyzed at times by the multiplicity of what-if thoughts that my mind can produce. I have to “take every thought captive” (II Corinthians 10:5) and remind myself to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

Yesterday as I was facing a situation that tends me make me anxious and nervous, I had been asking the Lord for peace and calmness when one of those stray what-if thoughts assaulted me. Normally I would think, “Oh no! I hadn’t thought of that!” And that little thought would run its course to its logical conclusion and perhaps trigger other what-if thoughts in the process before I could wrestle it down and give it to the Lord to take care of.

This time, though, almost immediately the thought came, “Well, that’s just one more thing to trust the Lord for.” It wonderfully short-circuited that little thought before it took off.

I think it was Hudson Taylor who said “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” When faced with a problem too big for us, a responsibility too heavy for us, a need too great for us, we can look for God’s intervention and help. And so with those tormenting little what-if thoughts, whatever the “what-if” is, even if it should come to pass, God is here, He knows about it, He allowed it for a reason and can bring good out of it, He can take care of it and provide the resources, wisdom, and grace to deal with it. And I can trust Him for all the possibilities.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalm 139:23

When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul. Psalm 94:19, NASB

God’s rest

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This morning when I was posting the hymn below, I looked at Hebrews 4 about the rest that God gives. I felt at the time maybe I should post it, but refrained — I didn’t want to make two post right after each other. But that urging is till on my heart, so here it is. I pray that anyone reading who has not entered into His rest and ceased from trying to obtain it by their own works might find that blessed rest even today.

1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.

 6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

 7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

 8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

 11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

 13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

 14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Dental woes

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I have to see the dentist in the morning. 😦 I have a filling that has been chipping out bit by bit. I saw the dentist last week and he said he didn’t think there was enough of the tooth left to do a root canal and crown, plus the x-ray showed what appeared to be a crack between the tooth and root. So he recommended extracting it and getting fitted for a bridge. That’s tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. I’d appreciate your prayers that it all goes well but especially that I won’t be anxious, because that then leads to other problems that cause more anxiety.

Update to add: I survived. 🙂 It’s not something I’d want to do often…or ever again…but the Lord greatly helped. Thinking through hymns like “Day By Day” and  “I Could Not Do Without Thee” (there was one other one — may have been “All Your Anxieties” — but I couldn’t remember all the words at the time) helped during all the drilling. The anxiety wasn’t completely absent, but it was much less than it has been for more minor procedures. I’d been listening to parts of Jim Berg’s Quieting A Noisy Soul the last couple of mornings, one and a half of the three sessions dealing with anxiety. I was reminded that thoughts contribute to emotions, so I tried, by God’s grace, to nip the “What ifs” in the bud by reminding myself that God was in control.

I hope this doesn’t sound silly to apply all these spiritual lessons to a dental procedure. It’s hard to know how much to share and yet be discreet, but I know it helps me when people share struggles they have that I also experience, so let’s just say, to put it delicately, that for some reason over the last several years when I get nervous or anxious, my insides liquefy and I have a hard time getting out of the bathroom (this makes traveling a nightmare). Plus for this procedure I was supposed to take antibiotics which can intensify that kind of problem. Plus I have a heart rhythm problem called supraventricular tachycardia which usually requires a trip to the ER and an iv dose of adenosine (nasty stuff — fast-acting, but make you feel like you’ve been kicked in the chest) to resolve. It doesn’t happen often — less than once a year — but I’d really like to avoid it, and I never know what will set it off. Plus there are all the usual dental fears — what if the numbing medication doesn’t work when they get in there, etc. So — I had a lot of what ifs to quiet. But God did give grace.

I’m still pretty numbed up (which is kind of nice, actually. This thing has been very uncomfortable. That’s one thought that kept me going, that after today I’d never have any more trouble with that tooth!) I imagine it will hurt some after the numbness wears off.

I have a temporary bridge. They make a cap for the teeth on either side of the removed one and  a “filler tooth” in the middle, so the bridge fits over the missing space plus the other two teeth. They took impressions and will have the finished one ready in a couple of weeks, after this heals.

Thanks to those who prayed! I really appreciate it!!

Deep Joy

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From the September 8 reading of Joy and Peace compiled by Mary Wilder Tileston:

Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
–PSALMS 30:4

GLAD with Thy light, and glowing with Thy love,
So let me ever speak and think and move
As fits a soul new-touched with life from heaven;
That seeks but so to order all her course
As most to show the glory of that Source
By whom alone her strength, her life are given.
–C. J. P. SPITTA

OUR Christianity is apt to be of a very “dutiful” kind. We mean to do our duty, we attend church and go to our communions. But our hearts are full of the difficulties, the hardships, the obstacles which the situation presents, and we go on our way sadly, downhearted and despondent. We need to learn that true Christianity is inseparable from deep joy; and the secret of that joy lies in a continual looking away from all else–away from sin and its ways, and from the manifold hindrances to the good we would do–up to God, His love, His purpose, His will. In proportion as we do look up to Him we shall rejoice, and in proportion as we rejoice in the Lord will our religion have tone and power and attractiveness.
–CHARLES GORE

Does niceness really matter?

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As the “Nice Matters” awards have been going around, I’ve seen a little bit of negativity toward them.

Who, you might ask, would have any problem with recognizing niceness? When would niceness ever be a problem?

Well, it would be a problem if we disregarded error, cut corners on the truth, never confronted a sister in Christ who had gone astray, all under the auspices of being “nice.” When the Old Testament prophets thundered against sin in the land, they would not have been regarded as “nice.” Neither would Christ in some passages: I think if some folks took a red letter edition of the Bible and read the words of Jesus, they would be surprised to find that their image of Him is something different from what He really was. When a mother fails to deal with her child when he disobeys, she is not being nice: the Bible says she is foolish. It is actually more loving to do what seems to be the hard thing in these situations mentioned.

However….

If you look up “nice” in the dictionary, you find synonyms such as “pleasant, kind, agreeable, delightful, refined, virtuous, respectable, suitable, proper.”

When it comes to everyday life and the disposition of Christians, I think these characteristics should be true of us. Yes, there are times when to stand up for truth is necessary and right and pleasing to God though not seen as “nice” by the world. But I have known some Christians whose chief characteristic and mission is pointing out error who have developed kind of a cynical, negative, gripy, sometimes harsh edge. I was at a Christian school basketball game once when two men behind me were commenting on a new trend amongst schools in our league of wearing two different colored socks, usually in the team colors. They were wearing them to the knee, and personally, the look didn’t appeal to me, especially on guys, but I could imagine that they thought of it as quirky, different, fun. But the men behind me saw it as a nefarious breaking of fashion rules and sense and spoke of it in the same tone as if the guys had been wearing miniskirts. I thought, “Good grief. Do we have to read ulterior motives into everything?” It took a lot of restraint not to turn around and say that.

So much of the Christian life comes back to balance. Yes, there are some doctrines and truths that there is just no room for error on, and as Christians tend to follow the world, that truth needs to be defended. I am thankful for “Christian watchdogs,” who often have a keener sense of discernment than others, who can see the errors underpinning a trend or movement and point them out to those who didn’t catch the problem. But there is no need to “bark” at everything. There are some areas that don’t involve the fundamentals of the faith where we can give people the benefit of the doubt and even allow for different opinions from our own without breaking fellowship or compromising truth.

And when it comes to everyday life and our disposition and interaction with others, I think being “pleasant, kind, agreeable, delightful, refined, virtuous, respectable, suitable, proper” — nice — certainly enhances the life of Christ we’re supposed to be living out much more than the opposite of those traits would.

Though the word “nice” isn’t in any of several Bible versions I checked, one of its synonyms, “kind,” is:

Ephesians 4:32: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Colossians 3: 12-13: Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

II Peter 1:5-7: And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

Romans 12:10: Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.

And kindness is one of God’s characteristics:

Nehemiah 9:17b: Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.

Psalm Sunday: Psalm 43

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psunday.png

My apologies for this being late. We had company yesterday and our power was off several hours today.

Join us for Psalms Sundays by clicking the button or visiting Erica at Butterfly Kisses.

1 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

2 For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

4 Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.

5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

The subject matter and progression of this Psalm is pretty straightforward. The Psalmist cries out to the God of his strength for deliverance and exercises faith that God will answer him.

There are a few phrases that stand out to me. One is in verse 4, where he says he will go to “God, my exceeding joy.” I don’t know if the Psalmist here is David, but this echoes David’s being a man after God’s own heart. His passion for God makes mine look so paltry. Though I love God and look to Him for protection and provision and grace and strength and everything else that is needed, times when I have thought of Him in that way have been few, the highlights of life rather than and everyday occurrence. I pray that will change.

Verse 3 also stands out: O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me. How easily we can be led astray, especially in times of need, and how greatly we need His light and truth.

And then verse 5 repeats similar thoughts from Psalm 42. That word “disquieted” really captures how we feel when something is amiss in our world. Dr. Jim Berg titled his series dealing with guilt, anxiety, anger and despair Quieting a Noisy Soul with this same idea in mind: a heart that is not at rest in the Lord is “noisy,” disquieted. This led me to look up other verses about quietness of spirit:

Isaiah 30:15: For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

Isaiah 32:17: And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.

Psalm 131: 1-2: Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.

Psalm 107: 28-30: Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

Psalm 1:33: But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

I Peter 3:4: But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

This “quietness” isn’t something mystical: it is the state of the soul at rest in God, fully confident that He can and will take full care of us and whatever problems might enter our lives.

Book Review: Sometimes I Prefer to Fuss

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It may look like book week for a few days here at Stray Thoughts. 🙂 I’ve finished three books in the last couple of weeks, but haven’t had time it discuss them yet.

Some years ago I read and enjoyed a book titled Sometimes I Prefer to Fuss by Verda Peet. When I tried to find a copy of it, though, I found it was out of print. I’ve kept an eye out for it ever since, and just recently discovered it in Amazon.com’s used books for just a few dollars.

The premise of the book can be found in the introduction:

The idea that missionaries are haloed saints, mature and perfected, above the sins of most mortals and so not needing much prayer, has done great disservice to the missionary cause. If you ever lived with missionaries you would know that their halos are askew. If I were to say that a missionary preaches the gospel, may (if female) put curlers in her hair, likes ice cream, travels a lot, longs for letters from home, can be thoughtless or domineering or depressed, perspires, has cakes that don’t always rise, never gets beyond the need of the Lord’s teaching, is concerned about her children’s upbringing and education and feels irritable in the heat, your first thought would be, “Sounds like a description of me.”

Exactly. James tells us Elijah was a man of like passions but we have trouble believing it. Our glamorization of missionaries blinds us to the need of down-to-earth prayer for down-to-earth details.

The title comes from the fact that God does send help when needed, even for “small” irritations like excessive heat and perspiration, and sticky clothes — but sometimes we prefer to “fuss” instead.

Mrs. Peet and her husband were missionaries in Thailand for about thirty years. Her book is an honest and often funny look at missionary life, but its lessons of faith are applicable to anyone.

There are so many places I marked in the book — I wish I could share them all. One thing that came up often was the need for wisdom in so many areas and the possibility of misunderstandings. For instance, even the simplest living arrangements of Americans can seem extravagant in jungle or tribal areas. One missionary who wanted to live as much like the people as possible did without a refrigerator, then overheard two of the nationals commenting that she did not get one because she was stingy. Another family who saved some of their best “goodies” from home to serve a visiting VIP heard that he later spread the word that the missionaries “lived too well.” So often they would like to just give the people material things they need, and they often do, but they don’t want to foster dependence on the missionary instead of the Lord.

Satan throws innumerable obstacles to keep people from believing or to stifle them when they do believe. The missionaries have to learn patience with a new believer’s struggling to “walk” in a faith totally foreign to anything he knows — just as a child stumbles and falls, so will a new believer until he matures. Practices that seem obviously wrong to Westerners with a heritage of a Judeo-Christian background, like premarital sex and using and selling opium, can take a while for a new believer from a different background to recognize as wrong. Then a new believer, or even one just showing an interest in Christianity, can face ridicule, ostracism, and persecution. There are thorny questions about what old practices are wrong, what a new believer should do when the demon priest declares an area or a day “taboo.” The consequences of violating a taboo are very real, but the believers can eventually learn to trust in God for protection.

With all the disappointment and heartache of those who “trusted” the Lord for the wrong reasons (like healing from a sickness when the demon rituals didn’t help) or those who did believe but fell away due to family pressure, there are also gems who have endured the refining fires to shine like diamonds. One believing lady, Celia, had a husband who was a professing Christian but not living very actively for the Lord. One day he showed up in their home with a second wife and moved her in, a common practice in their culture, but one that he should have known better than to practice as a believer. As a missionary lady came to comfort and encourage her through the Word, Celia said, “I thought I could never cook for her (the second wife) but I remembered “love your enemies,” and because of these words I overcame, and I cook and call her to eat.” I was convicted at my lack of “overcoming” minor trials by comparison.

Another quote that stood out to me was, “The trial of our faith is not to point out how faulty it is but to prove how trustworthy He is. I had always pictured God testing me to show how little I believed, but He has a more positive purpose — to increase my capacity to enjoy His faithfulness.”

Another “lesson” was to trust the sovereignty of God to work even through fallible leaders. There was an elected field council as well as a superintendent who were good men, but human like everyone else, whose temperament, background, training, quirks, and pet theories may effect their decisions. When they make a decisions that seems wrong or unfair, there is temptation to blame them. “If we see ourselves in the hands of men, we can expect to be miserable, but if we know ourselves to be in God’s hands, subject to His decisions, we can go on in peace.”

There is so much more — grace through trials and how the Lord uses them, dealing with fear, care of children, etc. This book is a good “peek” into the under-the-surface, real everyday lives of missionaries, but it is also an example of how the Lord uses “all things” to work together for good and to grow His children in grace and knowledge of Him.

No judgment?

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Our local newspaper has a couple of “faith-based”pages every Saturday, with a question and answer column, a few articles, church announcements, etc. It’s very much a mixed bag, but every now and then there is something good and Biblically-based in it.

The Q&A column yesterday contained a note from a lady saying she had heard that God judged people for their sins and she thought that was pretty unloving. The preacher answered as most people I know would have, that God is righteous and holy and therefore cannot tolerate sin, but He is also loving and merciful and provided for forgiveness by sending His only begotten son, the Lord Jesus Christ, so that if we believe on Him our sins can be forgiven and we can have a home in heaven with Him when we die.

But my mind ran for a little while with the implications of her comment. She seemed almost offended that God would judge sin. I wonder if she has the same problem with the librarian charging her a fine when she returns an overdue book (I was a college librarian for four years, and people do have problems with that!) or the policeman when he gives her a speeding ticket. I wonder if she would have the same problem with the drunk driver or the child molester or the murderer being judged? Ah, that’s a different story, isn’t it? When someone commits a “really big” sin, or when someone sins against us, we want them to be judged and to be made to make it right or pay for it. But our little paltry sins, well, we had good reasons for those, and who has the right to judge us, anyway?

Do we not see the inconsistency there?

Think what a world without judges would be like. No one to say anything was wrong, no consequences for doing wrong against another. Everyone doing what was right in his own eyes. Have you ever had someone do something he thought was right that impacted you in a way that you didn’t feel was right? What confusion and anarchy there would be. I wouldn’t want to live in a place like that.

I’ve been somewhat alarmed by the trend I see in parenting these days on not dealing with a child’s wrongdoing but rather handling everything in a positive light. Sure, parenting shouldn’t be all negativity, and there are times when a positive approach may be best. But a child who is never brought to face the fact that he has done wrong will be crippled for life. Imagine how all his relationships will be impacted if he can never admit that he has done wrong and apologize for it? One of our children used to have a really hard time agreeing that he had done wrong, and we had to emphasize to him time and time again that admitting wrong-doing is the first step in making things right. Proverbs 28:13 says, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Sure, it’s not pleasant to admit we’ve done wrong. “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Hebrews 12:11). One of the hardest things in the world is to have to go and tell someone that you have wronged them and you’re sorry. But besides that exercise helping you to make things right with that person, it also helps motivate you to do right so you don’t have to go through that experience again. I’ve gotten one speeding ticket in my life, but I almost automatically slow down every time I am on the stretch of road where I got it because I don’t want to repeat the experience.

Is it unloving to judge sin? Isn’t the opposite true? If someone is intoxicated, wouldn’t it be the loving thing to take him home or call a cab rather than let him drive as a danger to himself and others? Would a parent really be loving a child to let him hit others or steal candy from the store and make excuses for him, confirming and justifying in him that behavior and therefore reinforcing it? It can be the most loving action ever taken to let someone know that what they are doing is wrong and that it needs to be faced and dealt with.

The woman’s comment about God’s judging sin has even further implications, though, as if she thought He had no right to judge sin.

We accept the fact that a store owner, message board owner, school administrator and board, etc. all have the authority to make the rules about how people act in their establishments. If a student defied the rules and was expelled, we wouldn’t look on the principal of the school as unloving. Why do people look at God that way? Perhaps they don’t recognize that He has the authority to make the rules?

He’s the Creator, the God of the universe. That in itself gives Him the right to make the rules. But because He made people in His own image, and because He is righteous and holy and good, He knows how best how we should live.

The problem boils down to our own pride. We don’t want anyone to tell us what to do or even suggest, much less judge, what we’re doing as wrong simply because it is what we want do to.

In Isaiah 57:15, God says, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

To be right with God, to dwell with Him, one of the first things we have to do is humble ourselves and be contrite over our sin. He is abundantly willing to forgive and has made every provision to do so, be He can’t grant that forgiveness until we admit we’ve sinned in the first place.

The melting point

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The following is from Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur by Frank Houghton.

When the children of Dohnavur were really difficult, Amma [Amy)] sometimes told them of a day when she sorely grieved her mother.

I had been very willful and, as you know, the will of a child can be like steel. My mother did not know what to do with me, for I would not give in, and was not at all sorry. So at last she set me upon a green ottoman which was at the foot of the bed, and, perhaps to give me time to think, she said. “I am going out now.” Then she put on her bonnet.

And as she tied the ribbons of her bonnet I watched her hands moving in the dressing-table looking-glass. The table was across the corner of the room opposite the ottoman, so that when she stood with her back to me I could see her reflected in the mirror. And then I found myself looking not at her hands tying on the bonnet, but at her face.

Suddenly something melted inside me. In one moment I was in her arms, soft and sorry and wanting to be good. It was the look on her face, such a grieved look, that was too much for me.

And often since then I have thought that if when we sin we could see the face of the Saviour as in a mirror, we should never have the heart to grieve Him again.

It’s the little things

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Sometimes it seems easier to trust the Lord for the big trials of life rather than the little things.

When a major crisis comes my way, I realize it’s too big for me. I’m acutely aware of my need for God’s grace and strength. I feel myself sinking, like Peter, and cry out for help almost instinctively.

But when I encounter some smaller provocation — when someone interrupts what I am doing; when I’m trying to wrap up computer time or I’m just logging in for something real quick and my computer decides to run extremely slowly or “time out” on the connections I am trying to make; when I am running late to an appointment and hit every red light along the way; when another driver cuts me off; when I am in a hurry at the grocery store and find the shortest check-out line only to have the customer in front of me encounter some time-consuming problem; when I give dinner a quick stir and slosh red sauce over the side of the pan and onto the stove, the floor, and/or myself — then too often I react with simmering impatience, carnal anger, unloving harshness.

Amy Carmichael once wrote:

The hardest thing is to keep cheerful (and loving) under little things that come from uncongenial surroundings, the very insignificance of which adds to their power to annoy, because they must be wrestled with, and overcome, as in the case of larger hurts. Some disagreeable habit in one to whom we may owe respect and duty, and which is a constant irritation or our sense of the fitness of things, may demand of us a greater moral force to keep the spirit serene than an absolute wrong committed against us. (1)

“Well, I was provoked.”

Love…is not easily provoked. I Corinthians 13:5

“I’m only human.”

Yes. That’s the problem, not an excuse. With the exception of One, all humans have a sinful nature. Our natural reaction is likely to be a selfish one. As Christians we’re called to have a supernatural reaction.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Galatians 5:22-23.

Even on the highway or in a check-out line.

Thank God there is forgiveness with Him, His mercies are new every morning, and if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness(I John 1:9).

But how can I get the victory over wrong reactions to little provocations and react in a right manner the next time?

  • I think first of all by not excusing it, but recognizing it as sin and confessing it to Him.
  • Plus I think a careful evaluation of using my time better is a good practical solution to some situations, such as stopping whatever I am doing soon enough to leave early enough for an appointment so that a few red lights (which really don’t last as long as they seem to) will not cause me to be late (or agitated).
  • Then relinquishing control of my life and time and schedule into the Lord’s hands will help me to handle interruptions better. Have you ever studied the life of Christ with an eye toward how much He was interrupted? It’s enlightening. Even when He was interrupted during prayer or on his way to perform a miracle, He never reacted harshly or impatiently.
  • I need to relinquish the “I” factor as well. Some of the agitation I experience is simply my thwarted desire for things to go my way. I mentioned in an earlier post that another of Amy Carmichael’s experiences that helped me was when she felt the “I” “rising hotly” in her toward one who was unfair and dominating, and she realized that that moment was a chance to die to self. “See in this which seems to stir up all you most wish were not stirred up — see in it a chance to die to self in every form. Accept it as just that – a chance to die.”
  • Remembering that my testimony before others is at stake helps as well. “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:25). I sometimes think of Satan standing before God and accusing that Job only served God because God blessed him, but let Satan take away Job’s blessings, and he would curse God. I envision him saying of me, “Yes, she acts like a nice Christian at church, but let me trip her up here and there and see how she reacts.” We not only forget that we are a testimony to others in our homes and at check-out lines, but we forget that our testimonies are as far-reaching as heaven. Rosalind Goforth was a missionary wife to China during years in which the Chinese were quite suspicious of and disdainful toward “foreign devils.” To try to alleviate those feelings and establish relationships with the Chinese, the Goforths would allow crowds of the curious into their home to look around and to talk with them. This resulted in some agitation and disruption as well as theft of some of their belongings, but over all they felt it was worth it. Of one particular day, Rosalind writes:

The day had been an unusually strenuous one, and I was really very tired. Toward evening, a crowd of women burst through the living room door and came trooping in before I had time to meet them outside. One woman set herself out to make things unpleasant. She was rough and repulsive and– well, just indescribably filthy. I paid no attention to her except to treat her as courteously as the rest. But when she put both hands to her nose, saying loudly, “Oh, these foreign devils, the smell of their home is unbearable!”, my temper rose in a flash and, turning on her with anger, I said, “How dare you speak like that? Leave the room!” The crowd, sensing a “storm,” fled. I heard one say, “That foreign devil woman has a temper just like ours!”

Now, I had not noticed that the door of my husband’s study was ajar, not did I know that he was inside, until, as the last woman disappeared, the door opened and he came forward, looking solemn and stern. “Rose, how could you so forget yourself?” he said. “Do you realize that just one such incident may undo months of self-sacrificing, loving service?”

“But Jonathan” I returned, “you don’t know how she — ”

But he interrupted. “Yes, I do; I heard all. You certainly had reason to be annoyed; but were you justified, with all that is hanging in the balance and God’s grace to keep you patient?”

As he turned to re-enter his study, he said, “All I can say is I am disappointed!”

Oh, how that last word cut me! I deserved it, yes, but, oh, I did so want to reach up to the high ideals he had. A tempestuous time followed alone in our inner room with my Lord. as I look back now, it was all just one farther step up the rocky hillside of life — just climbing! (2)

  • The verses mentioned above in Galatians 5 say that gentleness, long-suffering, self-control, etc., are all a part of the fruit of the Spirit. Maintaining time in the Word so He can speak to me through it, yielding to His control throughout the day, memorizing verses in the areas I am having trouble with, sending out a quick prayer for help when I feel that agitation and frustration building up will all help in gaining the victory.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16.

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(1) Houghton, Frank. Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur. (Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1983), 86-87.

(2) Goforth, Rosalind. Climbing. (USA: Bethel Publishing), 45-46.