So we can say with confidence,”The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith. – Hebrews 13:6-7
When we’re wounded—as we all inevitably are—we tend to react to what happens to us instead of responding in a healthy way.
Our reactiveness can take a variety of forms. Some people act out in rebellion and anger. Others act in by becoming envious, judgmental, or depressed. Either way, when we’re living reactively, our lives become contingent on what others do and say. But God longs to set us free from our bondage to such dependency. He wants us to take our lives back—to recover from these unhealthy patterns.
The writer of Hebrews offers a valuable tool for our recovery in the form of a question: “What can mere people do to me?” In other words: “What others say and do can no longer affect me in any significant way. In fact, I’m fearless now because instead of reacting to other people, I trust in God to shape my responses.”
When you feel yourself pulled into old patterns, try speaking this verse aloud. It can help you turn reactive living on its head.
Ask Yourself
What (if any) reactive patterns do you recognize in yourself?
How does turning to God as your Helper change that?
Ask God
Lord, with confidence I say that because you are my Helper, I do not fear. Thank you for the ways you are helping me break free from old patterns and find new life in you.
Taken from Take Your Life Back Day by Day copyright © 2016 by Stephen Arterburn and David Stoop. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
