Bust Cool!

“If you want to live in this lousy world, play it cool.” That line starts the song “Cool” from "West Side Story".  West Side Story is a musical that was on Broadway in 1957 then it became so popular they created a movie of it. My most favorite song in the movie is "Cool". The question is <dramatic pause> what makes this song so cool (pun intended)? I think, the reason I like "Cool" is because, at that moment everything was going wrong. Riff was dead, Tony was no where to be found, the cops were after both of the gangs, the Jets had absolutely no one keeping the gang together and everything that was familiar was falling apart. The song "Cool" is what finally brought them all back together in some sort of sane mind. After this song the Jets were finally able to start picking up the pieces. It cooled them down, and they were able to think straight.

Many times the same thing happens with us. We have a horrible day (or days), everything goes wrong, and we just don't know where to start. We freak and get upset (like Action in "West Side Story"). We start acting out and struggle knowing where to go for help. Sometimes, I find myself wishing that Ice would come ambling in, snapping his fingers, and start singing "Cool" to help me calm down.

Truthfully though, even if Ice was here he couldn't really help me cool down. The only person who will ever be able to give me peace, is JESUS. All we have to do is go to His Word. There, we have hundreds of verses that will cool us down and get us back on track with God. As Christians, we don't have to struggle in darkness, and try to use worldly devices to get relief, because we've got God living inside of us. We can go to him whenever things get heated.

If you're like me, sometimes I get so upset that I can't even think straight and talk to Jesus. I become like Action in the movie. He was so upset his emotions were way beyond his own control. He couldn't cool himself down even if he wanted to. That's when Ice took Action by his side and helped him see how the way he was thinking was all wrong. He needed to get out of his own head and start to see what was going on around him.

We need to do the same thing. Trying to do it alone sometimes just isn't possible.  We might be so caught up in our own world that we can't get into God's. That's when it's time to go to another person and ask them to help you see Jesus in what you're going through. Maybe you just need to say, "OMGoodness! I'm really upset! I can't handle this anymore, I need your help!" They then become the bridge that you use to reach God. Some days you might even find yourself being that bridge for someone else.

  1 John 2:14b NLV-I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one.