A Poor Reaction

A Poor Reaction

[Jesus said,] “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

My friend Connie works at the service desk of a major retail store. Recently a customer tried to return a twenty-nine-dollar sweater she said she had purchased there a few days before. But the sweater code didn’t match the supposed receipt or any of the other sweaters in the store. After Connie explained her inability to refund the money, the woman loudly demanded to see the manager. When he appeared, he looked at the mismatched codes and stood by Connie’s decision. The woman glared at them, then yelled, “You’ve ruined my life!” and stormed out of the store.

Connie and the manager stood there, stunned. Finally the manager turned toward his office. “Life ruined over a sweater? That woman’s got bigger problems than dealing with the two of us.”

Those of us who have experienced some of the world’s trouble Jesus mentioned in John 16:33 shake our heads at this customer’s reaction. Either she had never encountered stress before, or she had never learned how to deal with it. After all, stress is part of life. Normal stress is the everyday stuff that makes us check our to-do list repeatedly. Distress includes those 9/11 traumas we can’t control. But in both types of situations, how we react makes a big difference. Ongoing stress can adversely affect our immune systems and leave us open to colds, backaches, and even heart attacks. Thus, it’s important to save our dramatic reactions for the truly important situations—not twenty-nine-dollar sweaters.

—SANDRA

Lord, help me not to overreact to daily stress. Help me to look to you and to see each situation through your eyes. Help me to know what to let go and what to work to change.

People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing.

—WILL ROGERS (1879–1935), AMERICAN ACTOR AND HUMORIST