What a great quote from today’s edition (10/29/14) of the blog “Morning Story and Dilbert!”

“I don’t have to attend every argument I’m invited to.”

There’s so much involved in that short sentence!  Reading this quote is one thing.  Actually DOING it is quite another.  What does it mean in my life?  Let’s say that a former boyfriend knows exactly how and when to push my buttons.  Isn’t that always the way?  He knows everything about me and has ample practice in pushing my buttons.  He knows just where they are and what will ignite them.  So, one day as we find ourselves conversing about something important, he lets go of one of his favorite zingers.  The “invitation” is instantaneous, highly emotional and it catches me completely off guard.  I react.  I try to tell myself that next time I’ll be ready and will control myself.  However, there never is a “next time” that’s the same as the previous time.  He’s never going to push the same button in the same way.  It’s always going to be a new situation, a new way of catching me off guard.  In other words, the “invitation” is always brand new.  The instigator could be anyone: a boss, a colleague, a friend or a family member.

There is no way to answer a zinger naturally without jumping into the ring in full boxing attire.  No matter how many possible situations/answers I catalog in my brain, there is always the distinct possibility that it will be a different scenario.  The only way to prepare oneself is to prepare spiritually.  If I’m connected to God in prayer, I will be more than capable of seeing the “invitation” from a higher perspective.  I will then be more than capable of turning down the invitation to rumble because I’m in the presence of a higher invitation. Jesus never answered the zingers.  He knew who he was and didn’t need to defend himself.  So, imagine this: the next time invitations are flying through the air, as you look towards the Lord to see what He would have you do, you realize that your cheek has turned ever so slightly away from your tormentor.  He stares at you in disbelief and storms off.  “You’re impossible.  I don’t even know how I could have put up with you for as long as I did.”  Bingo.  You have just clicked the little box labeled “unfollow”.  He won’t be back for a new invitation.

http://morningstoryanddilbert.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/things-that-make-you-say-hmmmm/