Back in the early 2000's my uncle had his annual done to his airplane just like he normally does. They basically go thru the whole thing to make sure that it is air worthy. He did all the normal checks on the ground before he took off. Everything was functioning properly so he taxi'd to the runway and took off. When he got in the air he suddenly realized that he had no ailerons (his yoke was loose in the stem when there was pressure on the wings in the air) and since he wasn't a super experienced pilot he panicked, cut power and crashed into a field not far from the airport. Miraculously he survived but he was banged up very badly.
Some months later I was camping with my parents and the guy that sold him the plane was there. Naturally we started discussing my uncles plane and his accident. He shared with me all the experience he had in Vietnam as a pilot and how he himself had crashed two planes there. Don't remember if he was shot down or not but that is irrelevant to this story. He told me how although my uncle was a fine pilot, he lacked the experience to know that in his situation he needed to make time his ally. Instead....he cut power to the engines because he was panicked and it was the last thing he should have done..he made an emotional decision and took away valuable time...time that he could have bought himself so he would realize... that all he had to do was reach over to the other seat and grab the other yoke.
This story has stuck with me and I think it is a great metaphor on the importance of slowing yourself down in the midst of crisis and trials.....to buy yourself some time...so you can make a decision that could save your marriage or other relationship and even your life. Granted...it may not save your marriage...your life may not be spared... but making decisions based in truth will keep you from ending up in an emotional pile somewhere. Emotions are important for sure...but they are not necessarily the truth...in fact...they seldom are.
God wants us to feel...if He didn't he wouldn't have given us them. Everything about you that God created in you is good. Your frustration, your joy and all the emotions in between....but he never intended for your course in life to be set by your feelings. The bible says the angels marvel at us and I believe it is because we feel so deeply....and we feel deeply because how else could we love? God never intended for the course of our lives to be set by our feelings. He intended for us to master our feelings. I like to think of us as the master gardener of our minds. If we plant good thought and are intentional in our thinking we will reap a harvest of good fruit...and joy and peace. If we plant bad thoughts we will reap a harvest of emotional ruin and heartache. If we doing nothing we will be overrun by weeds and will have the same result as planting bad thoughts.
Believe me...I know how hard it is when you are in the midst of something hard....some pain...that you think you have to react to it immediately or fix it....or fix the other person....when what you really need to do, is nothing but take a deep breath...assess the situation...phone a friend or even just pray. Tell yourself that you are safe...God has your back and loves you deeply.
Well...blessings to you all. I hope this post will help at least one person to take control of their thought life.....to put on the mind of Christ...to think well of themselves and others. To take the high view of yourself and of others. To forgive someone who doesn't know or understand this truth and has wrecked themselves because of poor thinking and attitudes... have empathy for them as Jesus did.
Remember...time is your friend but you have to embrace it as such.