Let the Waters Settle

Have you ever tried to look at your reflection in boiling water? You can't see anything. It's all stirred up, bubbling, restless. But let that water cool, let it become still, and suddenly, the image becomes clear. You can see what was always there, but you couldn’t see it before because things were too stirred up.

That’s how it is with our heart, our soul. When we’re all stirred up with anger, frustration, offense, when we’re boiling inside, we lose clarity. We won’t see the situation for what it truly is. We can’t hear God as clearly. We can’t see people rightly. We end up saying things we wish we hadn’t said. We make decisions that we later regret.

But when the water calms, clarity returns. When you choose to calm your spirit, when you take a step back instead of reacting in the heat of the moment, when you allow peace to rise above the storm of emotions, that’s when God begins to speak. That’s when He shows you the things that anger, frustration, and offense had clouded before.

The Scripture says in James 1:19, “Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” Why? Because anger stirs the pot. It clouds our spiritual vision like steam on a mirror. But when you let the waters settle, when you pause, when you say, “Peace, be still,” not just to your circumstances but to your soul, that’s when the clarity comes.

Friends, anger has a cost. But so does peace, and it’s worth paying. Peace is not weakness. Peace is not backing down. Peace is strength under control. And sometimes the greatest victory is not in what you say, but in what you don’t say. It’s in the grace you choose, the fight you don’t enter, the offense you don’t carry.

So, when the enemy tries to stir you up, when frustration boils, offense rises, step back. Take a deep breath. You don’t have to respond to every offense. You don’t have to attend every argument you’re invited to. Let the waters settle. Hold your peace instead of proving your point. And God will bring clarity, healing, and justice greater than anything you could’ve said or done on your own.