Taken from Crosswalk.com - http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/marketplace/
Unprofitable Anger
Ecclesiastes 7:9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
Every day of our lives we are placed in situations that engage us with other people, whether it is in the office, our homes, or in public places. Do you recall the last time someone cut you off in traffic, or you were forced to wait in line because someone up front got held up? Perhaps your employer did something that was downright unfair. Anger can result from many circumstances.
A friend once told me that anger is like warning lights on the front of your car dashboard. They signal that there is something going on under the hood, and we should take a look to examine the source of the problem. Anger can be traced to a few sources. First, when we lose control of a circumstance that we have placed certain expectations on and those expectations do not result in our desired outcome, we are tempted to get angry. The source of this type of anger is both fear and protection of personal rights. You see, when we believe we have a right to something, we have not given the Lord permission to allow an outcome different from what we want. If an outcome is different from our expectations, this may stimulate fear.
For instance, if a vendor failed to deliver an important job on time due to something out of his control, you may respond out of anger. Please know that the source of your anger is the fear of what might happen to you or what this might say about your abilities to manage a project. You no longer are in control of the circumstance and this creates fear in you.
The next time you get angry ask the Lord what is the source of that anger? Did the Lord allow that failure to let you see what is "under your hood"? God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind (see 2 Tim. 1:7). Give up your rights to expectations that God never gave you. You will find a new freedom in Christ you never knew you could have.
4 comments:
Ouch is all I can say. Man can I be a hot head. Obviously, I have a few spiritual lessons to learn. Kinda reminds me of the "Love is" verse in I Cor 13:4 which I do not do so well either.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
What would my life be like if I could actually live this verse out???
cas
Yup, my youngest can really push my buttons - probably because, of my three kids, he is most like me. I think the anger and frustration I have is based on knowing that he might turn out like me, and I haven't figured out how to prevent that. I suppose, therefore, that must not be God's plan. Go figure.
tba
Welcome back TBA....awesome. My wife just sent me another verse worth noting. Gal 5:22-3 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Blessings,
cas
Ouch is right. In my old age I am much more easily angered than in my youth. Probably should look under the hood and see why.
LT
Post a Comment