She bolted in the door looking for a fight.

I issued a warning for the other customers to get out of her way. Seconds earlier I had seen (and heard) her yelling at the server in the drive-thru window of the crowded Cookeville, Tennessee Starbucks.  Her order had apparently not been prepared to her satisfaction.  She had received a drink she didn’t order- and loudly stated that the server was “apparently so stupid that he couldn’t hold down any other job…and should be fired from this one.”

As the server tried to apologize and make the order right, she yelled at him again.  “Are you making fun of me?  Don’t speak to me in this tone!”  With this she raced her car to the front of the store- then ran inside looking for a confrontation.

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.  James 1: 19-20

To his credit, the store employee remained calm.  He apologized for any misunderstanding and politely asked if he could try again.  She wouldn’t listen….instead demanding that she speak to the manager and that she would expose him for the rude behavior he had exhibited.  He calmly gave her the information she requested, apologized again and returned to work.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.  Ephesians 4: 31-32

I learned a real lesson from that young man in Starbucks.  We cannot control the actions of others, but we can control our own response.

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.  Psalm 37: 8-9

May the spirit of Jesus guide us in our responses to others…and give us the endurance to remain calm during life’s storms.

Please pray for me to hold my tongue- and let me know if I may pray for you.

God bless.