"The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you." (2C13)
Before I started my journey and learned to be discreet and not to react but to take everything to my Heavenly Husband, I used to react badly to difficult situations, and I was definitely not discreet because, as women, we might think that we can talk about anything and everything.
I used to give in to my feelings and feel I had to express what I was feeling, however bad it came across, just to feel guilty and bad afterwards. And as the author shared, I also didn’t react as badly as others may react, but it was still bad enough.
The world tells us to let it out, blow off steam, and get it out of our systems; otherwise, the pressure is going to build up inside until we explode, but those theories have been proven wrong. After we let it out, we not only have to deal with our own feelings of guilt, shame, embarrassment, and regret but also the feelings of the other person or persons we reacted towards. Reacting badly can leave the other person hurt, confused, or angry, and they might never see us in the same light again. I had to deal with this so many times before I started my journey, and in the end, it caused so much destruction.
This lesson (Chapter 6 “That Amazing Grace”) taught me that we will not explode like a pressure cooker if we do not "let it out." The way we are supposed to deal with these feelings is to take them to the Lord. When we feel like we are going to react, we must get alone with the Lord, whether it is in our prayer closet or going for a walk. We must give our feelings to Him and wait until He comforts us and takes all the negative feelings away. This will leave us feeling freer, better, and lighter, and we will walk away with that amazing grace!
There are benefits to being under the pressure of trails, and I would like to encourage you to read the pressure cooker analogy the author shares in this chapter, but to sum it up:
As trials heat up, the pressure in our lives rises, which has two major benefits: It helps us to change faster, and as the pressure raises, it forces His love and peace into our hearts quickly, which helps the process to be completed faster and also helps hearts, like tough, hardened hearts, get very tender very quickly. Also, the testimonies created under pressure can be really deep and complex.
How we react may not change the outcome of events, but we will not have to face the aftereffects and destruction of reacting badly and letting our feelings out. We are the Lord’s epistles, and we must show the world that His grace transcends all difficulties we might face. His grace, found in His love, is what helps women "smile at the future" when the future looks like a deep, dark hole.
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33 KJV).
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Please share what He showed you in the lesson in the comment section below, post your praise or complete your journal.
I have to admit, I reacted to my neighbor who is parking in front of my gate and throwing all his stuff in front of my wall. I had so much negative feelings towards what he was doing and I didn’t feel better after saying that I am not happy with what he is doing. I know if I had just left it for my Darling to short it out, I would have felt free, better and lighter.