Refrain from Anger

Refrain from anger and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. Psalm 37:8

I have spent the last three months angry. This anger has permeated every part of my life, my relationships, my health, my writing, and my relationship with God.  When I tried to pray my anger got between the Lord and myself. I was snappy to my family and friends. Every time I ate the heartburn would keep me up most of the night. Anger bled into frustration and that morphed into depression. Many days I laid in my bed staring at a blank wall gritting my teeth and churning inside. It is a terrible thing to admit and put into words.  But there it is.

              Anger is not a sin; it is a perfectly natural and normal thing that we all experience. The problem is when we allow anger to grow, and we react out of anger. Once we do that, we are vulnerable, and our enemy uses that opportunity to enter our hearts. An angry heart taints everything it touches and our relationships.  Especially our relationship with God.

              There is no place in your heart for anger. Once you accepted Jesus as your savior and invited him to dwell within you there is no room for it. I let it in and that crowded out Jesus and the Spirit. Anger is loud and because of it we often cannot hear the Savior’s voice.  I am thankful that our Lord is forgiving and patient with us. Though I embraced that anger, Jesus never left my side and the Spirit continued to minister to me. When I think of the situation, I become angry again, but I immediately repent and drop it at Jesus’ feet.  Over the last few weeks those opportunities for anger have lessened and my desire to hold on to it continues to wane.

              We do not have control over the things that others do, but we do have the choice to decide how we react to their actions.  We can embrace anger, or we can choose to refrain from it.

              Typist for Jesus