Triggers are what guns have so a human can fire bullets.
Triggers are negative emotions we have that get us fired up.
The job of a trigger is to entice you to sin and they are major contributors to anxiety and depression.
Jesus had seemingly one trigger — disrespect of His Father. When the Pharisees turned the Temple courtyard into a “den of thieves,” Jesus got fired up and upended the money changers’ tables and freed the animals that were being sold as “acceptable” sacrifices when the corrupt priests disqualified otherwise acceptable, unblemished animals people brought from home. Father God’s intent for the Temple was for it to be “a House of Prayer for all nations,”not a marketplace of swindlers.
When Jesus acted out, He was motivated by righteous indignation. His actions are backed up by Scripture. A blatant sin was occurring within the confines of what was supposed to be the most sacred place on Earth — the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus was not merely calling out sin, not only bringing conviction of sin, but bringing about an immediate judgment of it. He possessed the ultimate authority over the Temple because it belonged to His Father, which means, as a family goes, the responsibility of the house falls onto Him.
Money, Money, Money
The love of money is a root of all evil. If, by just reading that last sentence, you got flustered and anxious, the idea of money is a trigger for you. Is it ‘a root of all anxiety’? Maybe not like Mr. Krabs, but it’s certainly one of the most intense in the world. Even the notion of money is loaded with ideas and ideologies so deeply etched in our souls, it packs a punch. When a statement triggers a reaction to what should be a benign notion like giving to the church or paying taxes, you know you have a money trigger.
Guns and Violence
You might have been triggered by the banner photo having a photograph of a Revolutionary War-era rifle. Gun control is a “hot button topic” these days — for good reason — and serves as a definite trigger for those who have been affected by gun violence. Both sides have valid points and the meeting place is somewhere between acknowledging and addressing spiritual and mental health issues once and for all and eliminating the availability of certain firearms to citizens. This is so much easier to say than to do because of the possibility of acquiring firearms on the black market and, conversely, the widespread ignorance of spiritual and mental health issues. Education helps, but the desires of each person are what’s at the root of the issue.
Triggers alert us to the actual source of our inner conflict, so they can actually be helpful — if you can control yourself long enough to master it, that is. God enlightened Cain by explaining the situation of sin in Cain’s life, yet Cain desired to kill his brother more than he desired to please God. Cain chose to hate God because God did not accept his bloodless sacrifice; a righteous sacrifice is a blood sacrifice for the remission of sin.
“21 Likewise, he sprinkled with the blood both the Tent and all the things used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, according to the Torah, almost everything is purified with blood; indeed, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
Cain decided he would get back at God by killing the one who pleased him — his brother, Abel. Cain wanted nothing more than to please his father Satan by shedding innocent blood — his brother’s. All Cain needed to do was sacrifice an unblemished bull, goat, ram, or pigeon to maintain a righteous relationship with God. Cain refused to master sin in his life because what he desired more than a right relationship with God was being a slave to Satan (sin).
“For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. ”
Cain’s trigger was rejection. He felt God should not reject his sacrifice. He felt he offered God a sufficient sacrifice based on what he felt he was worth, not what he did according to God’s Law. He probably reasoned, ‘If God was truly loving and understanding, He would know I am disadvantaged and incapable of giving a proper sacrifice because I am an agrarian, so God should just let me slide and treat me the same as Abel; who owns livestock.’
Many people think this way today. They think they should get the same benefits/blessings other people get from their hard work, diligence, and intelligence even when they make little-to-no contribution to society or do nothing more than be a lawbreaker like Cain. Under God’s covenant, Cain should have bartered some of his crops with Abel for a suitable lamb or young bull to sacrifice. Cain attempted to appease God with what he had “lying around” and he got upset (ashamed) when this didn’t work. He got angry with/blamed everyone but himself — just like his parents after they committed the original sin. He was triggered.
Desires
Just like Cain, the greatest challenge to anybody’s relationship with God is the desire to sin. Sometimes, the desire to sin is so strong, it seems like a tractor beam pulling you to an inevitable ending of failure, guilt, shame, and punishment. But have you ever really considered the root of your desire to sin? That is a secondary trigger. Far too often, counselors, especially secularly-trained counselors, only focus on the low-hanging fruit secondary triggers of behavior and stop there as if that was all. The real problems (primary triggers) always reside in the root system and that requires spiritual revelation and personal humility in order to be willing to go into the darkest recesses of our souls.
As far as primary triggers go, there are some basics that you might want to pray about: unforgiveness, being unapologetic, family wounds, bitterness and resentment, a broken heart, etcetera. We often avoid dealing with these issues because these are the things that cause us the most pain and sometimes, we have even tried to reconcile with those who have hurt us only to get hurt again. (Note: Step out and reach out to seek reconciliation with those who have hurt you only when God asks you to.)
Pain and conflicts get in the way of just about anything we’re trying to do, so we have become depressed because we have repressed these negative feelings and desires. Many times, we have been taught, and sought, to repress our pain and deflect conflicts with drugs and alcohol, distractions, work, and excuses. After awhile of trying to repress negative emotions, depressed people often employ additional help to “better” repress these negative feelings and we call that ‘suppression’. Drugs, alcohol, binge eating, distractions, work, and excuses are most often employed to help to suppress these toxic emotions and assist the wounded person manage an otherwise unmanageable life until the resistance to suppression becomes too great. Or, you might say, there’s only so much you can sweep under the rug before you trip over it.
Lies, Lies, Everywhere There’s Lies
Some people just need to get real. The only way to do that is to know and tell the truth. It’s been quite difficult in today’s world because there are so many people touting so many opinions-purported-to-be-answers that have never been proven to help in any society.
Photo by Pavel Nekoranec on Unsplash
Believing lies is a goldmine of triggers. What do you believe about God? The world? How about your family? Yourself? Do you find yourself to be suspicious or even superstitious? There are issues that arise between selfish people and people who want the best for all involved. There are world views and political views based on eternal truth while the foundational ideologies of other views are based on lies.
Lies arise from the sinful desires of ornery people who manipulate and deceive to advance their selfish agendas. You might like to think human beings are generally good. That is simply not true. However, this is a trigger many people possess: self-deception, aka “deceiving yourself.” In other words, when a person gets triggered over hearing the truth, it is proof that they are a self-deceiver. Nobody is deceived unless they first choose to agree with the lie.
“He (Satan) has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So when I tell the truth, you ... don’t believe me!”
The number one reason for conflict is a disagreement over truth. There are some people who want to think they are the final authority of truth and what they say goes (autonomous), then there are those of us who submit to God’s agenda (Theonomous) and the Truth that is eternal, immovable, and unshakable — His name is Jesus Christ.
“6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.””
All ideologies outside the establishment and foundational truth of God’s ultimate authority over all things in and around the universe falls under the heading of “Lies of Satan.” Everything comes from a person.
Society
There are countless possible triggers in society and the news is a feeding tube of triggers. I don’t choose to watch mainstream news unless it’s on the TVs at the gym. I am selective about what I take in through my eyes and ears. “The eyes are the windows to the soul.” You’ve heard this quote, but have you really stopped and considered the impact of what you take in through your eyes and ears has on you? “Garbage in, garbage out.”
Photo by Harry Quan on Unsplash
As you can tell from other pages on this website, Inspiration and Beauty, it is very important for people with depression to closely monitor the nastiness and negativity that goes into our minds, souls, and spirits. We must filter all that enters us, not just seeking healthier foods, but healthier ideas and beliefs (truth). Furthermore, it is of utmost importance to not only eliminate the “Negative Nancies” from our lives, but to replace them with “Positive Paulas.”
Jesus called Satan “The prince/ruler of this world.” The world’s entire social system of stealing, cheating, and manipulating to get ahead in life is straight out of the mind of the devil.
Let’s get down to the root of the matter: we are in the middle of a World War and there are only two sides — Satan, his demons, and the humans on their side versus God, the Heavenly Host of angels, and the humans on His side.
This spiritual World War has been waged ever since Eve was tempted to eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This war is between Good and Evil. Coincidence? Definitely not.
There is no “coexisting” with the devil, demons, and the people who have chosen to side with them. Their agenda and the agenda of God are diametrically opposed to each other. There is only one truth and we must seek it with everything we have and are.
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, I appreciate all You have done for me over the years and I thank You, again, for Your kindness toward me to arrive at this point. It is Your kindness that leads sinners to repentance. I have triggers that have been mentioned in this article and more. I ask that You would help me eliminate them either one-by-one or all at once, but I want to be free from as many triggers as possible. Please free me from the effects of these triggers, as well. I confess (name triggers you have listed) and I repent of, renounce, and reject them. I no longer choose to react in the same old, destructive ways and I ask that You would replace them with compassion, faith, and love. Let me be a shining beacon of love and grace for humanity that has struggled to find direction because they have abandoned the Way. I intercede on behalf of my fellow human beings and I ask that You would reveal Yourself to them and lead us all to the Well that never runs dry. In Jesus’ holy name, amen!
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