Trigger

by Roger Loomis

Trigger.

You may remember Roy Roger’s famous horse with this name. But I’m not talking about a horse in this article. I’m not even going to “horse around.” What I want to address is what happens when people get triggered. 

Trigger points are those unresolved areas that cause individuals to emotionally implode in their mind, and afterwards cause them to “level the city.”  Those areas of unresolved pain that reveal unforgiveness, anger, or even hate. I’ve seen people click into rage, even pounding on a table or a wall, or whatever was within reach. Triggers are real. 

And we cannot ignore them. When we become triggered, it’s time to settle down, gain our composure, and stop long enough to identify a root issue. In other words, we have to take a deep look inside our mind and be willing to get honest with ourselves. Healing begins with honesty, and a willingness to face off with truth. Triggers always indicate a deeper level issue. What the person is mad about is usually not what they’re mad about! 

Triggers usually catch us off guard—unaware. And those around us catch the bullets, too. It’s like the old western guns that were loaded with buckshot. Anyone within a certain span got hurt, as glass or metal pieces blasted them.. 

Christians who allow trigger points to explode within them need to understand that this kind of explosion never produces anything positive. As a matter of fact, when we allow our triggers to take us over the top emotionally, we do great harm to our testimony and to those we implode upon. This type of anger works unrighteousness.

Please, if you’re a Christian in the Bible way, get honest with yourself and quit allowing certain trigger points to make you out of control angry. Face off with your real nemesis. Don’t justify your anger, or say, “The Lord’s okay with how I feel.” Because guess what? He isn’t!  Anytime we yell and direct anger toward someone, we build walls instead of bridges. You can speak the truth in love without decimating someone’s dignity or emotional frame. 

To deal with sin is not to attack sinners. Nothing good ever comes after taking on an attack mode.  We must first earn the right to speak into someone’s life; then we must make sure that our approach is shrouded in love, humility and brokenness of spirit. Otherwise, trigger points can drive wedges between their soul and ours, never to be healed. Eternal souls lie in the balance. We must walk in wisdom, be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16).