How to Control Your Emotions Week 4 Blog Link-up Party

Chapter 4 of How to Control Your Emotions So They Don't Control You (a mom's guide to overcoming) really opened my eyes to the example of how Jesus handled the hard moments of life. The title of this chapter is "Sometimes, We Just Have to Walk Away". We all know how hard that is to do. Especially when we feel like we've been wronged and need to "stand our ground" because of our need to feel right. Thankfully, Brooke uncovers a beautiful truth from Matthew Chapter 14 that gives us another choice.

 

Discovering Another Choice

You know how you read something in the Bible over and over, and then you read it another time, and it's like the light bulb goes off over your head...yeah, that's what happened to me when I read Matthew Chapter 14 as I pieced together a series of difficult moments in Jesus' life. I discovered from His example another choice we all have.

Jesus' Example

Jesus withdrew from the crowds often. It was His time to invite God into His circumstances as He withdrew to pray about whatever was going on in His life that left Him with a choice to make about how He would respond. 

Matthew Chapter 13 ends with Jesus being rejected by the people of Nazareth...the people of His own hometown. In the very next chapter, while dealing with His rejection, Jesus gets the terrible news of the beheading of his cousin, John the Baptist. That's a lot to deal with! And here's the beautiful truth that I can hold on to in the hard moments of my life, when it seems like everything is going against me:

"Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself." (Matthew 14:13, emphasis mine)

I have another choice in how I respond to the difficult things of life. I can withdraw to a quiet place, bow my head in surrender to God, and invite Him into my circumstances. I can ask Him to help me respond to others with His grace moving through me. I can pour out my hurts and my confusion to Him, so He can pour His love and mercy into me. Then, I can give to others what the Holy Spirit of God has so graciously given to me.

It's a choice we all have to make. Will I get it right all the time? No, I will not. If I could get it right, there wouldn't be any need for the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. But God knew I would need His help. The choice is mine to make. I pray that my choices would bring honor and glory to God.


 
Now it's your turn to link-up your blog post for this week's reading. Your thoughts matter to me, so please share in the comments below if you don't have a blog. If you do have a blog, use the link-up tool below to share your blog post about this week's chapter. 

Please join me here again on Monday for our last week in our book study. I can't believe how the time has flown by! Have a blessed weekend friends!

Armed with a New Choice,
Laurie