Quieting the rage in your life

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”

Philippians 4:5

I read a statistic once that said it takes a person, on average, 11 seconds to become physically agitated while waiting for the elevator. That’s not very long considering it probably takes five seconds just to push the elevator button and look up to see if the arrow light is on.

Not only do we get upset, we blame anything and everyone for our ill-temper. We blame the guy driving 55 in the fast lane, the lady with 12 items in the 10-items-or-less lane at the grocery store and even the server who brought out the wrong food even though she didn’t make it.

Not only do we blame people but we blame the weather, our computer, our cell phone and our TiVo for our bad mood. It’s just so easy to do.

The truth is that most of us fail when it comes to handling aggravating situations. But what if we started responding to our life with gentleness? What if we started living like God was really near just like the verse says?

Sometimes just reminding ourselves that God is near can bring great comfort to our hearts and emotions. It causes us to think before we act and, generally, the outcome of every situation is responded to with greater tact.

So what do people see from you when life just isn’t easy? Is your gentleness evident, or are you noticeably agitated in 11 seconds or less? God wants us to be people who carry His character around with us all the time, just like He is right there.

Because I want everyone to see Him.