Jesus Manages the Four Spaces of AnxietySample

Have you ever walked into a room where there was already a mood? Or maybe you have been in a room and everyone is having fun and laughing until Wendell walks in and suddenly the room gets cold. The unspoken agreement is ‘we can’t have fun if Wendell is upset.’

It is amazing, isn’t it, how some people can change a room just by walking into it? Jesus did that all the time, which makes sense, since he was famous and notorious, depending on which room he entered. I marvel at how Jesus noticed and managed the mood when he entered. In our story above, the ‘mood of the room’ came to Jesus. An armed, angry mob dragged a vulnerable woman right out in public. I cannot imagine her terror, but because Jesus is a maestro mood noticer. He walked right into it and settled it down by putting the responsibility back where it belonged. No one knows what he wrote, but his words, actions and posture diffused the reactivity and soon enough it was just him and her. She was going to be ok.

Our world needs more people who can read the room and do the right thing to bring us from reactive to connected. We so easily catch each other’s reactivity now days. But the way of Jesus is to choose to not catch and spread it, but rather to notice the reactivity, step in and bring peace. This week, pay attention to the rooms you enter. What mood are you walking into? Or perhaps you might pay attention to when he or she walks in. How does the room change? What might God be calling you to do or say to help everyone stay connected and not catch the reactivity?