Lord, Shut My Mouth - Breaking Through OffensesSample

Trying to maintain an eternal perspective when we are living day to day here on earth is ridiculously challenging. Especially when we come in contact with other people.

Years ago, my daughter and I were at an equestrian event and went on a trail ride after, with a group of others that we knew. I had just spent several months training a new horse of mine and she was kind of like me – sassy and ready to go full force right away. So, I left my daughter and the group for a few moments and took off the other way to get my horse some heavy exercise and tire her out. When I came galloping back toward the group, it spooked one of the other horses a bit and in turn, flustered his rider. That rider quickly dismounted her horse and proceeded to yell at me in front of all the people, including my daughter. In that moment, I wanted to react in a way that I won’t share details about here. But instead, I paused, asked The Lord to shut my mouth, and chose not to respond. Not because I was scared to confront her. But because God allowed me to see the root of her mouthiness – it was fear. She was scared of her horse and didn’t know how to properly keep him and herself calm in the moment. So, she took it out on me. To make the situation more awkward and ironic, while she was yelling at me, another group of riders came galloping by, which flustered her horse again. It was like God was fighting my battle for me and I didn’t have to say one word.

Even when we have cause, we should still pause and ask God for a bigger perspective than our own. A pause allows us a moment to chill out and diffuse our anger. And it becomes an opportunity to see how we can respond in a way that brings honor to him instead of adding fuel to the fire.

When we become less focused on defending ourselves and more focused on understanding other people and their perspectives, it’s amazing how God uses that to grow us spiritually and show others what it looks like to respond in the Holy Spirit instead of reacting in our flesh. God can teach lessons to others much better than we ever could.