Ready - Aim - Fire
In Nehemiah 5:6, we read that he was, "...very angry when I heard their outcry and these words." Often in our Christian subculture, the default response is to simply "let go" of the anger, which in my experience has been to ignore the offense: "I'm not angry...I shouldn't be angry...I should just drop it."
Unfortunately, the other extreme is, "Ready - Fire - Aim" and act on whatever comes to mind first, in many cases leaving a trail of bad decisions and/or hurting people.
In verse 7, we see the example to follow: "I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials." By engaging with self and evaluating the situation, Nehemiah models a process for handling difficult and intense emotions like anger. Most of us "know the things we oughtta do;" by pausing to line up actions with the best version of ourselves, we avoid unnecessary mistakes and are much more effective: "Ready - Aim - Fire."
I suppose the another pitfall in this scenario could be to take counsel with self and NOT take action: "Ready - Fire - Aim - Aim - Aim - Aim..." Nehemiah thought through the best course of action and seemingly takes immediate action.
Created over 2 years ago
