June 8, 2012 ~ Fire!!!

As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,

so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.

Proverbs 26:21

Thoughts~

I often wonder how God can use the slips of my tongue to bring glory to Himself. I know He is forgiving and loving; as I walk with Him, He uses all of my life to shape and mold me into the woman He wants me to be. But, that tongue of mine sometimes fails me. Sadly, I was reminded recently that my tongue has a mind of its own. How easy it is to forget we are witnesses for the Lord when we react to hurtful or hateful people. 

When we are suddenly blindsided by a rude person, out of our mouths comes rebuttal and that is not what God has called us to do.  He has called us to walk away from the fire, to refrain from adding more charcoal or embers. JUST WALK AWAY.

If we engage in a quarrel, we will lose spiritually, Pastor Bob told us last Sunday.  We need to simply throw water on the flames of a quarrel so everyone walks away without getting hurt. Sure, we may be frustrated not to have gotten our important two cents in, but how often does that two cents turn into two dollars . . . or even twenty? How often do our words hurt the other person and cause a rift in our friendship?

Have you ever been rude back to a stranger and then meet them later? It happened to a friend of mine. A woman was pushy and rude to her at an airport coffee shop and she was rude back because of her stress in flying.  She hates to fly. Both women glared at one another and my friend admitted she wanted to win that battle so much she almost felt like throwing her cream cheese bagel at the woman. Not really, but that is how frustrated she was. 

When it was time to board the plane, my friend asked God to calm her down and joined in the long line to find her assigned seat. Guess who her seat mate was!! The short version of a two hour plane trip is that my friend apologized and even ended up crying, mostly out of shame, but, a little out of her fear of flying. The stranger began crying out of shame too, and the two women struck up an amazing companionship that took the fear of flying out of the front seat of my friends mind. They both acknowledged the horrible way stress can cause people to over react and apologized for their part in the quarrel. And then, they went on to talk about a mutual love of the Lord and gardening during the entire flight.

As for me, I am going to start praying before I leave my home for a gentle spirit and that I might reflect the love of the Lord at all times. And carry a bucket of water.

Action~

Think about mentally carrying your own bucket of water when you are around quarrelsome people. Walk away from the fire of quarrels.

You will diffuse the situation and be so glad later.  It takes practice to do this because we all think we “MUST” share our opinion and set everyone else straight.

Ask yourself this: Is it more important to be right or more important to save a friendship?

  

Pray~

Lord, You know I don’t want to open my mouth and be part of a quarrel.  Please be a constant reminder to toss the water and save my relationships.

Trusting in Him,

Becky