He’s not the most patient little guy.
When our 6-year old son Kaleb wants something, he wants it like 2 days ago.
So, earlier this week, when his favorite electronic toy sat connected to the charger plugged into the wall, he kept glancing at it every 5 seconds while pacing the floor. The green indicator light wasn’t showing that his tech gadget’s battery power was fully replenished yet, so that meant he would have to wait.
With each check-in, he grew more agitated and antsy.
“Why isn’t it charging?” he whined, looking questioningly at me, awaiting my response.
“It’s charging baby, but you have to wait until it’s finished,” I explained.
With sad, drooping eyes and slumping shoulders, Kaleb then asked, “Well, how long is that gonna take mommy?”
I shrugged.
“I’m not sure exactly, but it’ll be a while, so you’ll have to find something else to do in the meantime, okay?”
With his head hung down, Kaleb grunted and dragged himself out the door, but not before stealing another glance at his device. Moments later, he reemerged with a new light in his eyes, as if he’d had an epiphany of some sort.
“It’s halfway charged mommy! So can I use it?” he requested, flashing a deceptively charming grin.
I shook my head no. “Just let it completely charge first, otherwise it will run out of power too quickly.”
Needless to say, he didn’t prefer my response. That wide grin instantly faded. His countenance fell and Kaleb returned to moping. The skilled actor even tried to turn on the waterworks Daily Cup family, as if his "emotional breakdown” would sway my ruling in his favor.
However, I was not quite moved by his antics. And once my little Denzel wannabe realized there was no payoff for his Oscar-worthy performance, he knocked it off and engaged in a different activity.
But his brief dramatic display made me think about how much control both children and adults can actually exercise over our behaviors. Kaleb turned his happy and sad responses on and off like a power switch.
At will, he turned his frown upside down and vice versa. He was fully in control of his responses.
We can be too.
So if you're going through something hard or traumatic and you're about to fall out in the floor screaming hysterically, wait, not so fast! Difficulty is not an excuse or justification for hysterics. Control that response. Pull yourself together. Make a decision that this thing is not going to overtake your life and render you incapable of functioning.
As my father would say, "The devil is a liar!"
When things don’t go our way and we’re struggling through a setback, we can choose not to crumble and go to pieces. That doesn’t mean it’s easy or that we will always perfectly master our emotions. That's also not to say that God created us to be stoic and robotic, impervious to pain, grief, or deep sorrow. Nor am I suggesting that we deny ourselves the right, freedom, or need to cry and mourn at times.
That's a part of being human. In fact, crying can actually be cathartic. And admitting that you are in pain is a necessary part of receiving healing.
However, if we find that our first inclination is to panic, freak out, and find the nearest ledge when adversity hits, then there's a problem. If we allow other things and people to pull us out of character and push us over the edge, we are not living in the fullness of God's will for our lives.
When we let our emotions rule the day, we are prone to knee-jerk reactions, susceptible to destructive behavioral patterns, and constantly on total meltdown watch like an ice cream cone in the hot sun.
This is not the way we are supposed to live.
When our flesh wrapped up in extreme emotions wants to rise up, we've got to get it under control and keep it there. How do we do that?
In the Bible, one of the Greek words used to teach Christians to be controlled and to exercise godly behavior is egkrateia (pronounced en-KRAH-tay-ah) , meaning “power over oneself.” Egkrateia is translated “self control” in verses like Galatians 5:22-23, which is what I'm stirring into your cup of inspiration today.
In the New International Version (NIV), it says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
When you drink down the contents of your cup, you will be reminded that you can keep things under control with the Lord's help. You and I have power to feel a negative emotion without behaving negatively. Through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives, we can overcome the temptation to let the tempestuous storms of life throw us into a fit, and defeat us.
If we lean on God when times get rough, He will gives us strength.
He will empower us to walk in the Spirit, which leads us down a path toward blessing, favor, and victory every time.
Now let's pray.
God, I cannot control what happens to me all the time, but by Your spirit, I can control my responses to those things. Today, I ask that You will help me improve how I handle the inevitable challenges and setbacks that come to try me. Teach me to find refuge in Your word and to seek strength, and peace in Your presence. In Jesus' name, Amen.
As always, thanks for reading and until next time... may today's cup of inspiration uplift, encourage, and empower you!
If you need prayer, don't hesitate to request it. I would be honored to stand in faith with You. I know that prayer works. CLICK HERE to learn how to submit your prayer request.
