At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water, comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive. -212 Degrees, the Extra Degree.
When something reaches its boiling point, it has the power to explode! The explosion can have terrible effects or amazing effects. It’s not about avoiding the boiling point, its about using that reaction to change things for the better!
This message was actually birthed out of a hard time in my life awhile back. I had been battling negative thoughts, discouragement and internal stress for couple weeks. I didn’t have the joy that I knew God promised me and I couldn’t shake the heaviness. It felt like a wet blanket that was there when I woke up until I went to sleep. I would cry at the drop of a hat. I had reached my boiling point. Something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Thankfully, instead of throwing in the towel, I chose to press in. I met with a Christian friend and was very transparent about what I was going through. We prayed and cried out to God! I dug into God’s Word and His promises. I began to speak life over myself and my situation, instead of negativity. As a result, I gained insight and freedom that I had not experienced in a long time.
I don’t believe that I am the only one who has faced a situation where you feel like the heat is rising and something is about to boil over. Whether it’s in our church, our homes or an internal battle, as Christians we will face several boiling point situations throughout life.
As the body of Christ, we need to be equipped to address these areas and understand that God has not called us to be afraid of situations that raise our blood pressure. Rather, He has called us higher, to be agents of change and He has given us His Spirit to confront things that need to be made right through His power and not our flesh!
When we go with our gut reaction in our flesh, we cause more damage than good. But when we handle conflicts, stress and harmful situations through Biblical principles, we disarm the enemy and bring growth and health to ourselves and those we are connected to.
Before we get started, I want you to all take a minute to identify what gets you to your boiling point. What is your trigger? We all have one or two things that get us upset or stressed.
How many of you would be honest and say that you may have reached a boiling point this morning on your way to church? Maybe while you were trying to get out the door on time or when you got behind that slow driver on the way here.
I’ve found that I reach my boiling point faster when there are few triggers present. First, I have taken on too many things. I’ve said yes to too many people. This then leads to me thinking I’m a superhero and the lone ranger. I forget that God intends for me to lean on Him and I get overwhelmed. This usually leads to me allowing my thoughts to get out of control and spiral downward. My daughter has a friend who calls this “Getting in her head too much”. I can definitely “get in my head too much”. When all these things are present, I am almost always due to reach my boiling point.
That’s the path to my boiling point. Chances are, if I asked you what the path to your boiling point looks like, each of you would have a different scenario.
The first step to handling our boiling points better, is identifying the triggers!
Paul told the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians 13:5 5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
As Christians we should regularly examine our hearts and attitudes. When we look inwardly, we should see the character of Jesus. If we don’t then it’s time to make a change.
Examination was a common theme in the early church. Even in communion Paul told the church in 1 Corinthians 11:28, prior to participating in the Lord’s supper, “Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.”
The word used here in the original Greek is peira, which is translated as test or make proof.
Examination means putting something to the test. To look past the symptoms, such as our feelings being hurt, our anger, experiencing anxiety or heaviness and really identify what causes those symptoms.
We have to look deep within ourselves and test our motives, our attitudes and our short-comings.
In Psalms 139:23-24, David puts it this way, Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting. NIV
Even David, the anointed king, acknowledged that he needed a heart check regularly. He knew that the only way to experience everlasting life was to allow God to examine his heart.
For many of us, this is a very uncomfortable feeling.
Often, we would rather deal with the symptoms instead of the cause because we are secretly afraid that we are part of the cause.
However, we can’t skip this step of examination if we truly want to be free from the negative outcome of our reactions to our boiling point.
Once we know what path takes us to that point, we can begin learning to process our reaction in a way that will bring life and good, instead of destruction.
How many of you realize that it is ok to reach a boiling point? Sometimes, we can feel guilty for getting worked up and that’s why we try to avoid those things that get us to those points.
Even Jesus had things that made His blood boil! Remember His response to those who were making a profit by exchanging money and selling animals in the temple?
Matthew 21:12-13 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[a] but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’
In Mark, Jesus asked the religious leaders if it was okay to heal a person on the Sabbath day. When they would not answer, we are told, “he looked around at them with anger” and then He healed the man.
So yes, Jesus reached His boiling point at time. But even in His anger, He never sinned.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
In the same way, God’s Word tells us that the sin is not being angry or reaching our boiling point.
Ephesians 4:26 “In your anger do not sin”[a]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
The sin is the way we process that feeling. Do we use that explosive power to get even or show them who’s boss or to spiral into a dark pit or do we allow that explosion to thrust us into accomplishing God’s plans?
Someone once said, Don’t make a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion.
When we process our boiling point by reacting and spewing anger on whoever is in our midst, we have now made a permanent stamp on our character and Christian witness and possibly on the person who was on the receiving end of our rage.
We must learn to process our boiling points in a way that reflects Christ.
First, it has to have the proper motivation. Like I discussed earlier, what is the path that got us there? If we are angry because we didn’t get our way, then we are not reflecting Christ-like anger. But, if we’ve reached our boiling point as a result of injustice, hypocrisy or deception in the body of Christ, then we have a godly reason to be angry.
Secondly, we must act appropriately in our anger. Just because we have a legitimate, godly reason to be angry or hurt, doesn’t mean that we let our emotions take over. Jesus healed a man, even when He was angry. Even when he overthrew the tables in the temple, he was not in sin. He was removing people from the temple who were breaking God’s law.
In the same way, you and I have the ability to maintain our godly character and press into those good works through the Holy Spirit even in our anger.
As we learn to process these boiling points in our lives, we must understand our temporary response has a permanent purpose. Each explosion has the power to affect the culture we live in to become a place of freedom and greater things in Christ or a place of hurt and negativity.
The same water that softens potatoes makes an egg hard. Both effects are great for their situation. In the same way, God has a unique purpose for every trial that you go to. Since no two people are alike and no two churches or families are alike, then God will not use the same process or have the same purpose for every situation.
If your heart is hard, then God may be using that boiling point to break your heart so it can softened. He may be teaching you compassion for your kids. He may be shining a light onto your own insecurities that may be coming through as you place unrealistic expectations on others.
If you have thin skin, God may be allowing you to experience trials to prepare you for the next step he’s calling you to. You may be praying for God to use you and these trials may be an answer to those prayers. But He is allowing you to experience hard things so you will be equipped to handle what He has next.
James encouraged early Christians in James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Are you struggling with something today? Do you feel like someone turned up the heat and you are about to explode? If so, be encouraged! God has given you a unique opportunity to process your emotions and reactions differently. God is not punishing you. He’s preparing you for the unique purpose He has for you and the trial is part of it.
1 Peter 1:6-7 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Allow God to open your eyes. Look through His lens and you will see that we are not called to be victims of our circumstances or emotions. We are victors through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit!
As we embrace that truth and walkout the reality of who we are, our boiling points will result in an explosive power of God in our lives, homes and churches. We will see God’s hand move in ways we never imagined and our culture will change!
