1. For Every Action… There is a Reaction
Imagine this: You’re driving down the road, just picking your son up from college…tell pastor’s story without ending.
You ask yourself, “God why is this happening to me?”
Newton’s Third law states that “for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction.”
Today we are going to focus on the REACTION part of that.

2. Imagine this: You’re driving down the road, just picking your son up from college…tell pastor’s story without ending.
You ask yourself, “God why is this happening to me?”
Newton’s Third law states that “for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction.”
Today we focus on reaction.

3. THE CHOICE IS YOURS
Why do we focus on reaction? WELL AS WE SAW IN THAT VIDEO, WE HAVE A CHOICE TO MAKE, BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT WE CAN CONTROL
Two areas in our lives that get reactions are our circumstances and people.

4. Talk about circumstances.
Things happen to us all the time (some are in our control, others aren’t)
We don’t always get to choose what happens to us, but what we can choose is how we react to our situation.
We can allow our circumstance to dictate our reaction, or we can allow our faith to.

5. “WE CAN ALLOW OUR CIRCUMSTANCE TO DICTATE OUR REACTION, OR WE CAN ALLOW OUR FAITH TO.”

6. MEN WHO RESPONDED WITH FAITH
There are several examples in scripture about perilous circumstance: Job (everything), Daniel (lions den), Shadrack, Meshack, Abednego (furnace), Paul and the Apostles (shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned), Jesus (Cross/Garden of Gethsemane) – BUT ALL RESPONDED DIFFERENTLY – THEY RESPONDED WITH FAITH.
You think you’ve had a bad day?

7. Talk about people
People can be more difficult than circumstance!
We certainly can’t control people.
They say and do things that are hurtful, embarrassing, rude, mean….etc
But we can only control our reaction to them.

8. “NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT”
One of my favorite quotes is by Eleanor Roosevelt: No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
The choice is ours.
Two of the hardest things to do in life involve people:
Forgive someone who hasn’t asked for forgiveness (or deserve it)
Love someone through their shortcomings
-ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

9. Romans 5:7-8 says “ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Stop and think about that for a second.
Think about the person in your life that drives you crazy or has hurt you
Now imagine giving you child’s life for them.

10. So why is the way we react so important
So why is the way we react so important? Can’t you just let me be me and react how I feel like reacting?
BECAUSE IF WE CLAIM TO BE CHRISTIANS, THEN WE REPRESENT CHRIST.
And if we react out of our own flesh, then we falsely bear the name of Jesus. (TAKING THE LORD’S NAME IN VAIN)
How can people see a difference in our lives if we continue to live and act like everyone else around?
How do we become salt and light in the earth if we taste and look the same as every else?
By controlling our reactions to our situations and people!

11. So how do we do it?
What am I putting in myself? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
What you put in is what comes out.
Garbage in; Garbage out
Words of life in; Words of life out

12. PERSPECTIVE IS EVERYTHING
Perspective is everything. The way we view ourselves, and our situations will determine how we react to them.
We must see ourselves as sons and daughters of God, and when we do, we will react accordingly.

13. Look through the lens of Christ
If your day is bad…
Look through the lens of Christ
You think your day was bad? Let’s look at Jesus and His sacrifice!
Look at your situation, your life, through the lens of Jesus and his sacrifice, and everything pales in comparison.
So the next time someone wrongs you, upsets you, hurts you – love them anyway.
The next time your tire is flat, your trailer tips over, you stain your shirt, your facebook shuts down, and you’re having a bad day #firstworldprobz– Think about Jesus and his bad day.

14. Back to the trailer story – RLI shirt and Gas station woman
You never know when God is going to use your bad day to change someone else’s life.
And your reaction makes all the difference.
IT’S YOUR CHOICE.
Let’s pray.