I woke up in a good mood. Generally speaking, I usually do. That doesn’t mean I’m in the mood to talk to anyone before I’ve had a few cups of coffee, but that doesn’t mean I’m not in a good mood, just a good and quiet mood like any true introvert would understand. However, this morning something happened that irritated me and my good mood turned sour almost immediately. The more I thought about it, the more irritated I became. I’ve been down this road many times before and it usually ends with me in a slimy pit that takes a lot longer to crawl out of than it did to get in.
Then I came across this -
A familiar scene in the Luke 13:10-14. Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath and He healed a woman and the synagogue leader became “indignant.”
When we read stories like this, we generally sympathize with the person Jesus healed and find it incomprehensible that anyone would be mad at Jesus for healing. Right?
This morning I sensed the Holy Spirit nudging me … this morning my attitude was more like the synagogue leader.
Ouch.
You see, Jesus didn’t push His way into the synagogue that Sabbath morning and force anyone to listen to His teaching. He was there because He had been invited. The synagogue leader opened the door for Jesus to come in and teach but got all shades of mad when Jesus
behaved
like
Jesus.
I have been guilty of this more times than I can count.
I willingly and sincerely invite Jesus to be the Lord of my life. And yet, there are times when I get all shades of annoyed when Jesus acts like Jesus and tells me to
die to self
to be kind and gentle
compassionate in every situation
and surrender my desire to control.
Just like Jesus. All up in my business. Calling me to think and respond differently.
Calling me to change.
And here's the kicker - empowering me to do so if I CHOOSE to.
As I write this, I am making a conscious decision to choose a different path this morning. I wish I could tell you it’s easy, but it’s taking more effort than I’d care to admit. But, y’all, I’m dead serious about changing the way I think and changing how I respond – I am dead serious about finding joy in every situation. And I know it's only possible if I choose it. The situation may not change, but I sure as heck can change how I choose to respond to it.
Joy sounds a lot better than that slimy pit of frustration I’ve been in before.
I’m grateful for the gift of choice. Aren’t you?
Happy Wednesday, y’all. Choose well.