Yelling Match Grace

Have you ever been in a situation with someone who didn't hear exactly what you said and got their feathers ruffled and started yelling about it? This happened to me recently. I tried to explain what they misunderstood, but they couldn't hear me, because they were too upset and were yelling.

 Now, the smart thing would have been to say a brief prayer for Yelling Match Grace,  for Christ to de-escalate the situation and for everyone to be open to a discussion on the matter. Unfortunately, I didn't think of that until after the fact.

 Instead, I joined in the yelling thinking that if the other person heard what I said, it would clarify the whole situation. Did that happen? No way! When people are yelling, they just aren't open to hearing anything, at that point, no matter how reasonable it is. They need time to calm down, before they can be open to listening....well, maybe, next time I'll remember!

Example of a Brief Prayer

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. Acts 15:11

I was with someone who was scooping up some free popcorn. They didn't ask me if I wanted any. The person told me that I should get a bag of popcorn and then took it from my hands. They wanted me to get the popcorn for them to eat later.

It's such a silly thing, but it really did irritate me. Didn't that person think about whether I wanted some or not? Couldn't they have asked me if I wanted some before they took it from my hands? I found myself getting frustrated at that person. Then, it popped into my mind that that's not what Christ wants of me. He wants me to be gracious to those who irritate me, but I was too frustrated to be gracious at that moment.

What I prayed was, "Popcorn Grace," and immediately Christ calmed me down, so that I didn't respond to the person in a less than positive manner. Although the "Popcorn Grace" prayer was very brief, I was asking Christ to please give me grace with this popcorn situation, so I would respond in a gracious manner, and He did! It amazed me that He knew and understood my brief prayer and granted me that grace, so I could be more gracious as an example of how He works in my life! I have continued to use these brief prayers which are changing my life and my response to others. If Christ can do this for me, He can most certainly do it for you, as well. Try it...what can it hurt?