Tap on the shoulder

There are times when it is just plain obvious that God is dealing with something in your life.  It's like a tap on the shoulder saying, "hey, time to get working on this."  I heard that loud and clear the other day.  I had been thinking about Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."  Low and behold, I open my bible app and the verse of the day was Proverbs 15:1.  That sure got my attention. 

What I realized is that this is a really difficult lesson to learn.  There are so many times when people just make you angry and all you want to do is lambaste them, smash their head in and crush them like a nasty bug.  The thing about that is that this is not the way we expect to be treated.  We expect that when people are angry with us that they will sit down calmly and discuss things rationally and to respect our feelings and that is what we need to give other people. 

Most people learn these lessons instinctively through others showing them grace but when this skill does not grow naturally in childhood it is difficult to learn as an adult because your natural reactions are already hard wired into your brain.  What we need to do is to reflect on this consciously and help our heart and mind to learn this new response.  Once it is a conscious thought we will be able to react to others with grace and a soft spirit even though this goes against every grain in our body. 

It really is a learning process but if we allow God to work in this area of our lives He will astound us.