Sonship Life Skills for Emotional Triggers

Sonship Life Skills for Emotional Triggers

John 13:35 by this all men will know that you are My disciples, by the love that you have for each other. Recognizing and resolving our triggers brings maturity in our lives as Christians and more deeply connects us to experiencing God’s love.

Triggered
I boarded my flight and was watching others come on. A lady boarded late for a business class seat and her overhead was full. The flight attendant pointed her toward an overhead near me, two rows back of business.

The lady, sarcastically remarked, “I was trying to avoid climbing over ten people to get to my bag but apparently that’s not going to happen.” This lady did not have sonship life skills for emotional triggers.

Skill Breakdown
Let’s consider the skill breakdown of this lady who was clearly triggered.

First of all she seemed to feel unimportant or not considered. Something drove the sarcasm. She could have simply accepted that after landing it would take an extra moment to get her bag. I actually did pass it to her as we stood to deplane and it wasn’t that big of a deal.

Second was a lack of dialogue. It’s like the mom who tells her 5-year-old who is throwing toys in frustration, “Honey, use your words.” This lady could have used her words and nicely asked the attendant if she was certain no room remained anywhere in the business class overheads. I have often double checked these situations myself and found a place for my bag with a little “creative” rearranging.

Triggers move us to fight or flight. In this case, the sarcastic remark was fight. This “fight” wall around the heart blocks the flow of love and community.

Skills
Biblical emotional health has to do with recognizing these dynamics and working them out with the Lord. There is no shame in getting triggered; it happens to all of us. The key is what we do when this happens.

In the above situation, ideally the lady would not have said her sarcastic comments, even if she was triggered, and taken her emotions to God. Then, she would have needed to see where these feelings were coming from by facing them. More than likely she probably has some powerless lies in her heart that she needs to face and allow God to speak to.

Love and cleansing are important to God, and learning to handle our “triggers” in life keep us from devaluing others. Our maturity and love will then be shown to all men. Will you submit to the King of Love and allow His fathering in your life?