Skip to main content

"I was provoked"

How many times have we used that as a defense, to ourselves and to others? That may have been completely accurate, in which case it does not represent the best of our character--or our temper. What provokes you? Why? Instead of shifting the blame to our provocateurs, let's look in the mirror for the moment. 

When you have a sore spot, it's always somewhere you've had an injury. That specific injury may have been long ago and consciously forgotten, but the underlying resentment was left to fester beneath the surface. Do some soul searching and see what you need to forgive--and forget. 

Step two--now, the spiritual equivalent of physical therapy. It's inconvenient, strenuous, sometimes painful, but effective, if you stick with it.  I'll explain.

I found the word "provoke" in an unexpected context-- in a passage that instructs how to treat one another with love and respect. 

Hebrews 10:22-24
"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering...And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works..."

Provoke each other to good works? You first. OK, I'll go. Let's paint a picture you'll recognize.

I can't stand our boss. She's mean, ruthless, deceitful---have you ever seen "The Devil Wears Prada?"
So, here she comes, dragging into the office, obviously unwell this morning, her fist full of tissues, her nose red. The first instinctive feeling would be satisfaction. HA! All that nastiness caught up to you, did it? Don't smile. If you have ever worked for the "the mean girl" you thought you got away from in the 6th grade locker room, you know exactly what I am talking about.

Who is going to be the first to go to the kitchen, whip up a comforting cup of hot tea, and take it to her, although she never asks for anything? (cricket, cricket, cricket)

Well? I'm provoking you, aren't I?

What about loving your enemies? Blessing those who curse you, praying for those who despitefully use you? Proverbs 24:16-17 also warns us against vengeful behavior.  

"Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall; don’t be happy when they stumble.
18 For the Lord will be displeased with you and will turn his anger away from them."
Ouch.

Think about how your workplace--or your world--would look, if, instead of huddling together around the coffee pot to stir each other up with seething anger and resentment, you set the calm, collected example of kindness by going out of your way to help others--no matter who they are. What if you took that energy and directed it planting seeds of compassion, instead of discontent? Those same hands and lips could be used more profitably, and with greater satisfaction, by pushing aside your emotional battle in favor of the greater war--the spiritual conquest the Enemy is holding over your head with every concession you make to choose personal offense over personal victory. Choose your weapons wisely--they determine which side will win.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NEMESIS, TRAPS AND DIGRESSIONS, OH MY!

Let's begin at the beginning. You have challenges. You have issues. You have enemies. All of the above would be true for any of us -- from slacker to slave, from victim to hero -- but there is actually one very small but highly distinguishing characteristic: perspective. Yes, the thing that makes mountains out of molehills--and vice versa--is undoubtedly the key to success or failure, and the common thread through the story of every hero. Something interesting about perspective: it can be found, lost, and regained -- although sometimes elusive, it's always attainable.  Through the next week, we will explore the various things responsible for our lost perspective, and talk about how to get it back. I was about to say that there are three things that generally rob us of our proper perspective, but that would imply that it can be taken from us, by force. The fact is, unfortunately, we sometimes "lose" our perspective as easily as we misplace our keys, cell phone, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Guardrails

Thank  From the winding ascent of Black Snake Road through the mountains of Arkansas to the many breathtaking overlook points in the Rockies in Colorado, you’ll find miles and miles of guardrails. Like sentries marching alongside the road, they stand as barriers between the safe and level asphalt and a sometimes cavernous drop into the depths below.  We don’t question guardrails on roads like that. N fact, when we see a potentially treacherous road without them, we wonder why they aren’t there.  Yet we have a desire to careen carelessly through life, without boundaries or barriers — without commandments.  This is a hard thing to convey — that the God whose mercies are new every morning and whose love stretches to the skies also has rules. But like little children, we stretch out our little hand and touch what he’s already told us “no—that’s hot,” and then we are angry with Him because we got burned.  It’s not from tyranny that He says “don’t” or puts up guardrai...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ever After

This weekend, we re-watched “Ever After,” a historical fiction drama based on the fairy tale of Cinderella. As a most beloved daughter reduced to a despised servant in her own manor house when her father died, the girl endured heartbreak and hardship for many years...until...! Long story short, when she stood next to the throne with the royal family, the newly crowned princess and future queen, she was in a completely new position in the presence of her angry stepmother. She was no longer under the wicked woman’s control, to order around and abuse. No longer subject to her unkind words or doubled labor. No longer her slave. She has nothing to fear or dread from the woman who had held her captive in the cruelest way her whole young life, because now she wore a crown.  Imagine your life with the same kind of triumph. Freed from the voice that condemns you and tells you you’ll never be good enough. Free from the ever-increasing burden of plodding through your days with the weight of t...
Post a Comment
Read more