Easy Does It part 4
If you push someone, one of two things will happen. 1. They will fall over. 2. They will push back. Neither one of those choices is probably what you were looking for. So my point for today is, "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but greivous words stir up anger" (Proverbs 15:1). To me its about de-escalation. Making things better if you can, but (almost more importantly) not making things worse. Jesus kind of said it like this, "You have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matthew 5:38-39). Such an important passage of Scripture. Because we have in our heads (in our hearts?) that we can't let anybody get one over on us. That we have to retaliate. Or even get our retaliation in first. I've seen it so many times--people reject people so that they can't find themselves in a position to be rejected. "I'll hurt you so you can't have a chance to hurt me." And I believe that comes from being hurt. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. Hurting people hurt people. Once you've been burned you'll do just about anything to avoid that flame. The idea of keeping or guarding your heart by closing it down. But that's not what the heart is for. That's not how you keep it, or guard it. You keep your heart by keeping it open. By keeping it open to love. By letting God love you and loving Him back by loving people. No matter what. Blessed are the peacemakers, right? So, really, there's a third option when someone pushes you. You don't have to push back. And you don't have to fall over. You can stand firm, firmly planted on the Rock that is Jesus. The Rock that is love. You can let someone yell at you and, as the Message Bible puts it, "A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-flame" (Proverbs 15:1 MSG). Someone yells at you--and realistically its probably not about YOU. How people treat you says more about THEM then it does about YOU--and you say, "Its ok. I hear you. I'm here FOR you. If you need to yell, yell. Then we'll get to the bottom of this and figure it out." Man... that's so powerful. Turning away wrath and getting back to good. Defusing that anger so that things can move forward in a productive way. I always tell my kid, "Feel what you feel, but don't let it control you." Because emotions aren't bad. Getting upset isn't bad. Being sad isn't bad. Its when we let those emotions consume us, or control us... when we're out of control... that's when things take a turn for the worse. So don't push people. That's number one. And if someone pushes you, stand firm. Don't retaliate. Don't resist, or fight back against, the "evil." Let the storm rage, and then let them know that its ok. That you're there for them. That you love them. A soft answer. A gentle response. A kind word (Word... Jesus... Love). It makes all the difference. Its literally the difference between life and death, but we'll get there tomorrow to finish this Rant series off.