January 13, 2020

Deeply Disturbed

Devotion for the Week...

I'm sure you've heard the phrase "happy wife, happy life" before. There's also "when mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." Both are true, aren't they? Not necessarily just about wives or mothers, either. When one person in a home or relationship is unhappy, that emotion tends to spill over into the lives of everyone around them.

Strangely enough, those phrases were what I thought of when I read about King Herod and the wise men a few days ago. The wise men arrived in Jerusalem and asked King Herod about the newborn king, whose star they had seen, and "King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem" (Matthew 2:3).

Now, most of the people in Jerusalem didn't talk with the wise men. They probably had no idea who the men were, where they came from or why they were in the city. The people probably didn't care, either. But they likely cared a whole lot about their king being 'deeply disturbed' about something.

I would imagine that when the king is the sort who might order the murder of all the baby boys in an entire town, as Herod would later do (see Matthew 2:16), everyone probably subscribed to the "happy king, happy life" philosophy. Word would likely spread quickly when the king was in a foul mood about something and that would cause unease among the people.

We may not be royalty, with an entire populace dependent on our moods, but there are certainly people around us who feel the effects. That doesn't mean we should hide or ignore our feelings, though. Neither of those are healthy options. We want to allow for proper expression of our feelings, without negative effects on others.

James wrote, "Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry" (James 1:19).  If Herod had been slow to get angry, do you think the whole of Jerusalem would have been disturbed along with him at the news the wise men brought?
You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry | DevotedQuilter.com
Background quilt is Sparkler
The question we must ask ourselves is, do the people around us get deeply disturbed every time we hear bad news or when something doesn't go our way? If people have to walk on eggshells around us, we need to take a look at our responses to situations. After all, King Herod isn't much of a role model!


  1. Wonderful post! So often we get selfish and don't even consider how our attitude is effecting those closest to us. Thanks for the reminder!

  2. I sure appreciate your understanding and observations about King Herod. I'd never thought of his "mood" extending to his demeanor around others. You must certainly be right! Not only do I need to be reminded that I sometimes am not "slow to become angry," but I can think of others who could stand to hear this reminder too. :-) I know. "Judge not, lest ye be judged."

