The Reset Button

I wish I had a reset button on my computer when all the presented options look confusing or bad.  I have learned that  a “help” message offering to send my PC back to the default factory mode is a veiled threat.  It warns that I’ve already slid too far down a slippery slope.  If only I could go back to the moment right before I tried to download a new program…If only I hadn’t clicked on an icon never seen before…If only I had backed up my files on a memory stick before I clicked on an icon never seen before…

I come from blunt people who sometimes speak their minds before considering consequences.  When I see my wife’s eyes pop in disbelief, I wish that I had kept my mouth shut.  Reset, please.  Sometimes my temper gets the best of me when multiple stressors visit concurrently.  I blurt out my irritation to a bystander.  Forgive me?  Reset.

Sometimes a scripture verse or a portion of a pastor’s sermon helps to reset my attitude when I feel storm clouds gathering.  “Cast not the first stone,” comes to mind when tempted to pronounce judgment on people.  “Fear not,” and the 23^rd Psalm have been making regular appearances lately.  Reading the Sermon on the Mount, Isaiah, and the Psalms offers many chances to slip out of anxiety ruts.  It’s comforting to know that older generations faced similar troubles and found “a balm in Gilead”.

God sometimes hits a reset button to redirect our lives.  A voice whispers to us during moments of contemplation.  It prepares the mental ground to grow more nourishing crops.  A new way of thinking emerges.  We see possibilities that hadn’t been apparent moments before.

Sometimes God sends us someone who sees us in a different light.  Their responses hold up a clearer mirror to our speech and action.  These reflections give us a chance to become new persons making fresh choices.  

Sometimes God abruptly and radically changes the circumstances of our lives.  We are reset.  Familiar strategies no longer work.  We stumble along until we adapt. 

Such is the case right now.  It’s normal to feel anxious and bewildered when facing unforeseen obstacles.  God grant us guidance and understanding as we learn to walk this path.