Trigger Points: That One Thing

This week the Lord convicted me of my selfishness by using an iced coffee. The lady got it SO wrong, which is usually no big deal, but that day, it was like the worst thing ever. And I didn’t realize the “wrongness” of the situation until I had driven away.

“Can nothing go right today? Not even my coffee?” sigh, grumble, sigh again.

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As I drove around town doing my errands, the coffee was not only bitter and the wrong flavor, but it was losing it’s appeal to me, staring me in the face as the thing the Lord was using to sanctify me that day.

I had to admit my impatience.
I had to admit that at that moment, I was living like coffee was all there was. I had set my heart on a medium pumpkin spice and nothing less would do.
I complained about it in my own heart, and let it affect my mood.
I was not prizing God and his holiness at that moment.

Jesus tells his followers that following Him will mean self-denial.

“If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Luke 9:23

Many believe the call for self-denial to be archaic, puritanical, punitive, and for those who don’t understand grace.

Today, we like things done OUR way, from our burgers to our lattes. The blessings that are “America”, have morphed into “demands” and “expectations” and “my rights.”

Selfishness has become a birthright, yet it is the polar opposite of self-denial.

Self-denial acknowledges the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives.
Self-denial acknowledges the sovereignty of God to give us what is best for us.

Selfishness demands that I get my way, and “myself” reigns supreme.

Selfishness rears its ugly head whenever we focus too much on our wants, needs, desires, and is always a result of the carnal self being stronger than the desire for God’s glory and grace.

Today, it’s not popular to examine your heart. Culture wants to excuse bad behavior under the guise that we’re all really good inside and that something outside of us made us do this bad thing. We love to rationalize and hate to take responsibility.

But if we sin, we are responsible and super-sized love for the wrong things is usually the culprit.  Let  your reactions be a light that shines down into some dark corner of your heart to show you, however shocking, what is actually hidden there. I know it’s more comfortable to say, “I was just tired,” or “I was caught off guard” than to admit sinful desires and misplaced loves, but this is necessary work if we intend to deal with self-will and selfish motives.

How do you deal with selfishness and self-rule in your life? I look for “trigger point”, the things that make me unhappy or discontent.
It can be different things on different days, but perhaps it’s a messy house or an extraordinarily busy calendar, or rude people, or wrong coffee.

What is that one thing that

“you desire too eagerly, and must needs have it, or else you will be impatient or discontent, and cannot be quietly ruled and disposed of by God, but are murmuring at his providence and your lot?” Richard Baxter

Are you so eager for _________________,” (husband, wife, a child, wealth, for popularity, power, influence, admiration, happy marriage, well behaved children, Pinterest perfect life)

while you are so cold and indifferent in your desires after God, and grace, and glory?” Richard Baxter

Then I ask myself a few hard questions:

Why does this make me unhappy?
What that says about my focus right now?
What do I believe about God in this moment? His Providence?
What or who am I living for in this moment? Who is master?
What do I need to adjust?

Self-denial is easier when we remember all that we have in Christ.
Self-denial is a no-brainer when you compare heavenly things to the trinkets (or iced coffees) of this world.

When we remember Jesus Christ and all He has done,
His great love,
our inheritance in heaven,
our blessings, both external and internal,
and the comfort and fellowship we have in Him every day of our lives,

carnal desires and sins will lose their death grip on us. Things that were once demands, the “end all,” the things of earth will grow “strangely dim” as we learn to love and appreciate the Creator over the created.



4 thoughts on “Trigger Points: That One Thing”

  • I love the list of wrestle-with-my-self-sin questions at the end Sarah…
    I so appreciate your words here and this reminder before my day even seriously gets going. 😉

    I’m going to be singing the “things of earth with grow strangely dim…in the light of his glory and grace” all morning…which is actually a really good thing.

  • I too find myself focusing on how badly someone made my coffee sometimes, and it makes me wonder whether I could really sacrifice something meaningful for the sake of the gospel or not. Your five questions at the end are a great way to refocus on God and all he’s done for us, Sarah.

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