Be careful what you let provoke you

While I was in prayer this morning, I began to pray against being provoked to say or do things that are contrary to power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). The mere fact that I mentioned the word "provoked" in my prayer has me convinced that it came directly from the Holy Spirit probably because the LORD knows how easy this can happen to me. Plus, I had a few conversations recently that (you guessed it) provoked me.

Now I'll be the first to admit that all it takes is for me to see or hear something in order to feel something, then next thing you know I'm walking around ready to do something out of anger, sadness, offense, or rebellion. This year, however, I've been more intentional about uprooting these seeds through prayer, fasting, and worship before they can grow into bigger problems whenever I find myself feeling a way about anything or anyone. And as I prayed today, this is what dropped in my spirit...

Be careful what you let provoke you.

Ahab & Jezebel immediately came to mind, specifically 1 Kings 21:25, which in the NKJV says, "but there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up". (If you don't know how wild the Ahab & Jezebel era was, then I strongly encourage you to read the book of Kings). Speaking of strong, the Strong's concordance defines the word "stirred" to mean incite, allure, instigate, or entice and translates it in the following manner: persuade, move, set on, stir up, away, entice, provoked, and removed.

There goes that word provoked again, and based on what I've seen and experienced, it's almost always up to no good. This is why I had to stop being impartial to who or what provoked me in an effort to justify unrighteous thoughts, conversations, and behavior. It demonstrates a lack of maturity when I choose to be led by my emotions & feelings, and Jesus didn't go through all that pain & suffering on the cross for me to bow down without a fight to every vain thought and imagination that enters my mind. Don't get me wrong, I am not implying that it's easy to surrender feelings like anger, grief, bitterness, pride, or whatever else we may feel on any given day. But the principles of God don't change at least not for those that are true disciples of Jesus Christ. So, either we believe that "with God nothing will be impossible" (Luke 1:37) or we don't. Thankfully, I am finally at a place in my life where I can testify that it is possible. 

What is the Holy Spirit prompting you to do?