What Pushes Your Buttons? by Martin Wiles

Friday night. Bi-Lo grocery store. My wife and I stopped in for a few groceries. Three open registers awaited us when we were ready to check out. One was express. We had too many items. We knew the reaction we’d get from others and the cashier if we tried to sneak by the warning sign. The line we chose had two shoppers ahead of us. “This will be a quick exit,” we thought. Not so. The first shopper had insufficient funds. I had already placed our items on the belt when the cashier looked at me and whispered, “This might take a while.” I scooped up our items, placed them in our buggy, and directed my wife to the only other open lane. Only one shopper. It appeared a good decision. But we were now behind Cathy the coupon shopper. Nothing wrong with saving money, but my impatience was bleeding through…until God reminded me what I’d recently taught my Sunday School class. Events in and of themselves don’t produce unpleasant emotional reactions. Rather, it’s what I think about the events. 

What pushed Jesus’ buttons were dishonest actions. Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers. (Matthew 21:12 NLT)

Injustice and all types of evil should push my buttons. My reaction should mirror Jesus’. I should attempt to rectify the wrongs. But I can’t execute a wrong in the process. Two wrongs have never made a right. Events that don’t fall into these categories shouldn’t push my buttons. Coupon shoppers, insufficient fund shoppers, slow drivers, rude drivers, etc. Events don’t cause unhealthy emotional reactions such as anger and frustration. How I interpret the event does. 

Rather than letting potentially aggravating events push your buttons, let them be opportunities for God to increase your faith and teach you a little more about what it means to mirror his Son’s image. 

Prayer: God in heaven, help us view every event through Your eyes so our faith will grow and our reactions will honor You.

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