Day 32 - Issue 22
Luke 24:14 NLT
'As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened.'
I have discovered that I have the ability to talk myself into a crisis, creating an extreme emotional state. I start the verbal reasoning process well, yet if challenged, so attached am I to my thought process that I note my blood pressure rising, my speed of verbal delivery increasing and the sound of my voice increasing in volume. I cannot seem to stop pressing in or find the pause button. My mouth runs away with me and dictates my emotional state.
I don’t enjoy this, although those experiencing me mid-flow note that I appear to. Once I break from the moment, and walk it through, I actually feel misery and disappointment, for this is not how I want to be. James in his epistle describes how the tongue, although a small body part, has a massive influence over the body, emotionally and physically. This is certainly my experience and, in fact, it is only as I embarked on the way of contemplation that I have slowly discovered how to ‘tame it’ by keeping in close step with God.
What I think and say is the product of various influences; my background, upbringing, failures and successes, my interpretation of events. Failure to moderate these by consulting Jesus, they can and will determine precisely the person I am in life. Jesus offers me, and you, the opportunity to measure our thoughts against the truth of God’s revelation. I can’t make my way forward on my own. I need Jesus, who is always waiting to accompany me, yet always awaits my invitation to join me. He alone can give me insight into the truth that lies behind what’s going on.
My difficulty is learning to accept that my perspective is neither the only nor the right one. Sadly it feels like it is right. To consider I might have it wrong threatens my identity that in turn questions within my ability to cope and go on. Yet my identity is, in fact, now Christ, who I have or rather am continually trying to put on. It becomes a question of trust and confidence.
QUESTION: How hard is it for you to acknowledge that you might be wrong?
PRAYER: Lord, help me have the humility to see that I might not always be right.
