D.R.A.M.A.

I'm a sucker for an acronym.  Don't you just love a handle that you can remember when you need it?  Here's one I needed for this fact of life: drama.

We all have it.  Or course, we don't start it (ahem), but we sure bob in the wake of it when someone else does.  It can be pretty disconcerting and disrupting, discouraging and stressful.

So I was thinking about it and the Father blessed me with a handle.  Hope it helps you, too.

D = Do your best to calm the waters.  What's the best way to do that?  Stay out of it and don't talk about it. "Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down." (Proverbs 26:20) and "Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own." (Provergs 26:17)  If the drama directly involves you, then add:

R = Rest in your position: your biblically based, Holy Spirit led, prayed up position.  ^"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3: 5-6) You may find in your praying that you have played a part in the drama, the cause of the trouble.  If so then add:

A = Acknowledge your wrong.  Confess, repent, ask forgiveness and make restitution if need be.  "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."(1 John 1:9).  If that doesn't diffuse the situation, then add:

M = Maintain your peace.  Don't let the drama be yours, mine, and ours.  If folks persist in living in upheaval, then let it be theirs. "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." (Isaiah 26:3)  In any case, add:

A = Always forgive.  Whether they ask for it or not, always walk in an attitude of forgiveness.  Matthew 6:14: "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."
 Remember, however: "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm." Proverbs 13:20. (Birds of a feather...uh huh.)

Every theatrical production starts the same way.  Someone creates it.  Don't let it be you. "...make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business..." (1 Thess. 4:11) Now there's a novel idea!