Why Do I Overreact?
“In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone” (2 Peter 1:5-7).
None of us ever plan to overreact, and it’s so frustrating when we do!
The more I learn about Jesus healing broken hearts, the more I realize that He wants to heal my emotions so that I can become increasingly immune from buttons and triggers in my life. As this scripture in 2 Peter so clearly says, self-control, patient endurance and brotherly affection…all of this is found in God’s promises for our relationships!
Overreaction simply takes place as an indicator that there is something deeper taking place in our hearts, and if we take advantage of the moment, we can discover a source of pain that is possibly buried in our hearts. God does not want you to live in pain and suffering. Righteousness, peace and joy is part of your heritage, your right and your destiny!
My son Christopher and I were talking the other day of how this very principle has been playing out in our everyday lives, and it all starts when we assume the WHY. Why did they un-invite me to that event? Why didn’t they respond to me reaching out to them? Why did that person forget me? Why didn’t he respond to my email?
When we assume the “WHY” when someone doesn’t respond, we give it significance, and it determines the amount of pain we are going to get from the situation. Quite literally, this is placing a judgment on the person. There is no way to judge another person’s motives! And when we do, we overreact and cause ourselves a lot of unnecessary pain.
Today is my day to labor to a place of rest. From a practical standpoint, I commit to notice when I overreact, and ask God to show me the source of that pain or memory, and send it away. “Father, help me to have self-control when it comes to passing judgments as to why people do what they do…this is how I am protected from unnecessary relationship pain!”
Have a great day my dear friend!
Love in Jesus,
Audrey