Mans(woman's) anger does not bring about the righteousness of God....James 1:20
A major crisis has abruptly changed my whole life, and I am now trying with all my heart, to listen to God, as to how I am to handle the the painful emotions that have arisen within me because of what has happened. I am filled with painful anger which has resulted due to the behavior of someone else and also anger at myself for how I responded in return. I have been continually lifting these overwhelming hurting feelings, up to the Lord asking Him for His help in dealing with the intensity of my emotions because they are beyond what I can manage by myself.
And, as if this isn't enough to cope with; there is also, the uncontrolled angry emotions of the other person in this situation, which is the core issue of my crisis to begin with, that I am having to dealing with as well. "Dear God, I pray, how I am to handle my anger, fears and doubts that are threatening to "swamp" me in waves of storming emotions? What does one do, when you are the focus of another persons hurtful, undeserved anger? When they verbally and emotionally assault you, because of their inability to handle their anger in a healthy way?
My answer was to run straight into the loving arms of Jesus; asking Him to hide me in the shadow of His wings; asking Him to be my strength and my shield, my strong fortress in this time of trouble, These were very words my devotional reading had spoken to me this morning. And that's exactly what He did. He gathered me into the shadow of His wings and with His love He calmed my hurt and anger. He did so because He says in His Word (Psalms 17:8) that's what He will do; and He does exactly what He says in His Word He will do. I know I can trust Him to be my refuge, my strength, when I am weak. Because He has been my strength and my shield, and "a strong tower in trouble," over and over again. The success for this to work though, is that I run to Him with whatever I am dealing with. Times of anger, times of sadness, times of joy! That I take everything to Him in prayer.
As a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, I know I am not to handle my anger in the same way as someone who does not know Him would. Scripture tell me, as His child, I am to respond as as the Word teaches, and that is to bring my emotions to Him, confess any sin on my part and let the Holy Spirit enable me to forgive, both the other person and myself. Anger--any ones-- will not bring about God's righteousness, James 1:20 tells us. So, I must deal with my anger.
Ephesians 4:26 also addresses the subject of anger and helps me to see that the anger itself is not sin, but what I do with the anger, how I respond that becomes sinful. This verse tells us how to respond God's way, "Be angry, but do not let the sun go down on my anger." I am to deal with it before the day is over. Only recently have I come realized that I have been letting the sun go down on much unresolved anger and resentment , which had turned into a root of bitterness that I had been unwilling to face. Now as God has revealed it to me I have run to His Word, my source of truth and guidance, for living a holy life, to learn from Him, what I must do with these feelings. While anger isn't a sin, bitterness is, and God says we must get rid of it because it is a poison to our souls.
As I sat with these thoughts, the above Scripture came to my mind. Only the problem was, as sometimes happens to me, I couldn't remember where it was located, so I went searching for a reference in my Bible concordance, trying to find the exact verse. I looked under specific words used in the verse as I was remembering it: anger, righteousness, man, and God. One after the other, but was not finding what I was looking for.
So I continued to search the Scriptures. And as I searched I prayed, "Lord why can't I find this Scripture reference? Is there something else here I am missing. Holy Spirit You know exactly where it is, would You lead me to where God's words are; not what I think He is saying, but exactly what He says? And on I searched.
Well, as you can tell from my reference verse, I did find it and several other verses God wanted me to meditate on as well. The verse that spoke to me the most was Ephesians 4:26. I like so many consider anger to be a sin, but that's not what God says. This verse says "be angry", but what I'm not to do is let the sun go down on my anger. That has been my problem in dealing with anger most of my life I realized.
Now for clarity, what I'm not saying here, is that every argument or angry situation can be resolved in the same day. What I am saying, is the Lord was speaking to me here about my feelings and that I bring them to Him, confess any sin on my part and put the situation into His hands, then wait for Him to show me what to do; obey Him.
I'd like to tell you that my crisis is resolved as I am writing this blog, but that's not happened. What I can tell you, is that God has taken something the enemy meant for evil in my life and has used it for good and ultimately for His glory, by revealing a deep rooted bondage that I needed to be set free from and cleansed my heart with His loving forgiveness. I no longer am filled with bitterness and resentment, but much sadness for the pain this has caused everyone involved. He has set me free to respond with His love and grace. Could anything be better than His goodness?
I am now waiting on the Lord to show me the next steps to take. I know in my heart He will, because He only does what's good and right and prefect. What He wants is for me to lean on Him. And that's what I am doing.
Dear Lord, thank You that the truth of Your Word is always available to us. Thank You that You care and love us so much that You want us to know Your truth and by able to apply it through the power of Your Spirit indwelling us. Your Word truly is alight unto our path and a lamp to our feet...Ps. 119:105 and You use it to speak to each of us intimately and personally. Thank You! Thank You, precious Lord Jesus.
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