Don’t Lose It!… Hello Hump Day readers. Have you ever been so mad that you’re about to lose it? No doubt we all have those times and it doesn’t take long to realize “I’ve got a hot temper-grrr!” So, what do we do about it? Stay hot or step back and cool off?

Today I went into town for groceries, first at the small but wonderful place that has such good meat and donuts! The people there are wonderful and it’s always fun as well as good food and nice folks. Next was Walmart and sadly, everything broke down between two women that were screaming and shouting out awful words—while their children were with them! One little girl started crying and ran away to the other side of the store! Police did come in and it took awhile to settle down those two women and then they were booted out of the store.

This episode reminded me of a little league coach many years ago, who was right in the middle of two players and their mothers! The coach pulled one of his young players aside and asked him, “Do you understand what cooperation is?” The boy felt bad and he hanged his head down saying “yes.” The coach asked, “Do you understand that what matters is that we win together or lose together as a team? It’s not winning when you are angry and trying to hurt someone. A hot-head is not good, in fact that is losing not just the game but a bad show of your loss. Do you get it? “Yep coach, I do but you know my problem.”

The coach continued to help him saying: “OK, when a strike is called or you’re out at first, don’t argue or curse the umpire, you understand that right?” He nodded and said “Coach, I get it but could you go over there and explain it to my mother? It would really help a lot.”

In Proverbs 15:18 [Message Bible] Solomon gives us the help we need when we are in a jam: “Hot tempers start fights; a calm, cool spirit keeps the peace.”

In James 1:19-20 [Voice], the Apostle gives us these words when we can get a ‘hot-head’… “Listen, open your ears, harness your desire to speak, and don’t get worked up into a rage so easily, my brothers and sisters. Human anger is a futile exercise that will never produce God’s kind of justice in this world.”

 It happens to all of us doesn’t it? In the heat of the moment, when emotions are flying and tempers are hot, it’s tempting to sometimes lose your patience and just unleash on whoever is around you. To be honest, I wanted to step in and push those women away from each other and their kids who were crying! And get this: what was really interesting is that I don’t think they even knew why they were shouting at one another. What was the issue? Not even the policeman couldn’t get a word from them so who knows what the issue was-ridiculous!

Our God has a better plan for us when it comes to managing our temper. As today’s scriptures says: people who are patient and not easily angered don’t just benefit themselves; they calm others around them as well—like the policeman did.

Think about it: when you’re tempted to lose it, ask God to give you the patience to react differently. When you do, you’ll notice that your overall stress level will decrease as you foster an environment of patience among those around you! It’s easy to get riled up but instead, pray and ask God to give you the strength to react calmly when stress hits and to foster an environment of patience with those around you.