5 TOOLS TO SURVIVE THE STING OF CONFLICT
When confronted by the mean words/actions of others, yield immediately by praying three words: God help me.
STANDING IN AN OLD CORNFIELD WITH NOTHING BUT A SLEEVELESS BLOUSE AND JEANS TO PROTECT ME, THOUSANDS OF BEES BUZZED AROUND ME. “Should I be nervous?” I asked Greg, my novice beekeeping-pastor, who graciously invited me into his world of beekeeping.
Knowing I was working on a manuscript centered around the concept of spiritual unity, he wanted to show me a few things he had learned by observing his bees.“Oh, no,” he said. “Just stay out of their flight pattern. Move a little to the left and you’ll be fine.” “They have a flight pattern?” I gazed about. “Yeah, sure. See? You can see them coming in for a landing. Straight to the hive.” “Got it,” I said. “Let me get out of their way.”
He smiled. “As long as a bee doesn’t feel threatened, everything is OK.”
Greg’s words were the aha moment I’d been waiting for. “Wow, Greg,” I said. “You were right. Your little bees do have a lesson for me and my readers.”
It seems we are all OK until a threat enters our “perceived flight path,” i.e., our domain of home, work, family, relationships, ministry or leadership.
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