The Art of Handling Explosions

We start each morning with a desire to have a great day - free of stress.  Unfortunately, life comes at us hard and can totally mess up our plan.  For whatever reason, I have a very high "sensitivity level" lately.  Some may say it is just who I am, others may attribute it to hormones or perhaps I wear a sign that says "be harsh to me, I can take it".  Is it just me or are there others out there who have fallen victim to people who tend to be explosive?  Just this past week, I felt like there were several people who snapped - and unfortunately I happen to be in their pathway.  When I witness this, I have to ask myself what is causing this behavior.  There has to be great turmoil beneath the explosion.  We all have different sources of pain that lives within us.  Perhaps something touched a portion of that pain and triggered their reaction. Whether you are the one delivering the blow or receiving it, God doesn't desire this for us - He wants us to have peacefulness in our hearts & lives.

There are two things to address here-how to have peace if you are the one exploding and how to have peace if you fall victim to the explosion.  I beg of you if you are an exploder, recognize it, apologize for it, figure out why you do it and take steps to stop the repetitiveness of your actions.  You will save yourself and a handful of others a lot of grief.  If you are the victim, what are you doing to trigger it, how do you react to help diffuse it and how can you prevent it in the future. As always, I look to God's word. Every day will bring new challenges to our peace. But every day also holds a new promise of peace from God that is totally unlike the peace the world offers. Jesus said, "I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It is not like the peace that this world can give. So don't be worried or afraid" (John 14:27). As we learn to walk each day in the power of the Holy Spirit, we will begin to experience the peace that is promised as part of the "fruit of the Spirit" (Gal. 5:22) "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness."  Every time anxiety creeps into our lives, we can turn to the Lord and He will bless us with peace. "Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel" (Phil. 4:6,7).

So much of our time, energy and emotions are consumed with trying to find and keep peace with family , friends and others. However, no matter how hard we try, peace eludes us. The war in our minds and hearts rages on and on. Where do we find peace? The Bible calls Jesus the "Prince of Peace" in Isaiah 9:6.  If we seek to have peace we must seek Jesus.