Day 25- He is a Designer

We live in a world where people react to everything around them. While reaction can be a good thing when I need to hit the brakes while driving to avoid getting hit by an oncoming car; to move out of the way of a ball flying past my head in a baseball game, or when I need to catch something that is falling off the counter,  there are times reactions can get me in a lot of trouble. I need to be able to plot out or navigate through life’s many ups and downs. One of the great hindrances to being reactionary in my thinking is the blockages it creates, I become unable to see what is really going on. The devil likes to keep me that way. Think about it, many of the tools to help us plan and process life are all on our phones. We use calendars, schedules, planners, notetakers and they all use notifications. Essentially this is a dog whistle to come running whenever it dings. I remember as a kid when the phone rang my sister and I would run to see who could get it first. My son interrupts me while I am doing something or talking to someone and fully expects me to react to him, now! We are being trained to be reactionary. It’s not a good thing. Life used to be slow, well thought out, and not reactionary. In the case of emotional reactions, emotions are meant to interrupt the current setting and provide an interpretation that then leads the person to a certain outcome. The trouble with emotion is they can get out of hand or misunderstood in a hurry. Let’s look at one of Jesus’s reactions to people and in a situation He encountered.

John 2:13-16 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”

He walks into the temple, flips the tables over, makes a whip and tells the sellers to get out of His Father’s house. I am sure you have looked at this situation as I have and thought “Wow, why did Jesus do that, that way? It seems so out of character for His loving, kind, giving, healing persona that is prevalent in the gospels.” It’s one of those strange passages that we really don’t know what to do with. We “get it” on the surface. He doesn’t like people selling doves in the temple. We may have even used this bit of scripture to justify doing something about what we are angry about, but we don’t really get why.  Another factor is it’s an emotional reaction. Our culture has taught us that if someone has an emotional reaction that they are out of control and possibly crazy or unhinged. So they have trained us to skip it. This post really isn’t about figuring out why Jesus did that. It is about why do we react by skipping it. God is a designer. He has designed this life to reveal truth like a game of connect the dots. It is all connected. He is giving us connections all the time and the enemy of our souls is training us to ignore the dot due to technicalities like too emotional, too loud, too quiet, not plain enough, too coincidental, too good to be true, over the top.  Don’t dismiss what is happening in your life and chalk it up to “I don’t get it” and just move on. Understand that life is created by a Designer who is interested in finishing the picture. –Tweet That!

PRAYER: Lord, help me not to dismiss the events, people, circumstances in my life. I want to understand what you are doing in my life. Slow my reactions so that I can see the connections you are trying to make in my life. I trust that You are making something good!

Have you been a bit reactive to people around you lately? Have you noticed that you don’t seem to tolerate people and circumstances very well? It’s time to slow and reconnect with Jesus. He is the Author and Finisher of our story! Ask Him to help you understand what He has been writing.

Thanks for listening,

Starla