I read a report that a Seattle man accidentally burnt his house to the ground after trying to kill a spider with a cigarette lighter and a can of spray paint. The man later told police that the spider had been lurking in the laundry, and he had accidentally lit the wall on fire with his makeshift flame thrower. Just a few weeks earlier, Ginny Griffith of Hutchinson, Kansas, lit her laundry on fire after seeing a spider crawl into a pile of towels. The fire quickly got out of hand, and her home went up in flames. She's been charged with aggravated arson.
A makeshift blowtorch to kill a tiny and very scared arachnid. Unnecessary force in a manageable situation. The result? Catastrophe.
Sounds a lot like what many of us do when problems erupt in our lives. Something rears its head and instead of a calm and appropriate reaction… we go off. Raised voices… flailing arms… blood pressure creeps up and tolerance levels drop down. We overreact. It’s common but it’s not Biblical.
The Scriptures tell us in the book of Proverbs 17:27… “A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered.” This verse tells us that it’s the truly wise person who sees challenging circumstances as an opportunity to grow in good judgment and gain an understanding of God’s will for their lives.
You don’t need a sledgehammer to kill a fly. The next time things start to heat up in your corner of life… take a deep breath and think. Just think.
Allow your mind to play out the scenario of what might happen if you discharge an impromptu blowtorch on cotton towels… or what might happen to your relationship… or to your reputation as a follower of Christ. If you are a Christian, people are watching. Do they see even-temperedness and control in time of stress in your life? Or are they calling the fire department because you couldn’t control your reaction to a spider? Think first and act (not react) second. And if “ready, fire, aim” is your standard… be bold enough to make a change today.
