Life, for me, has radically changed over the last 46 years of walking with Jesus. In these years God has taught me so many things. i’ve learned to not be angry about everything and for a guy who was easily angered by everything that’s a big deal. i’ve learned to listen, not only to the Lord but to others and even to myself, and for a guy who never seemed to listen to anyone, again, that is a big deal. Not being angry and frustrated was a biggy for me. i used to doubt everything i thought, everything I said, and everything i hoped for, everything I thought was real… in my mind it was a constant state of chaos and indecision. Rarely could i resolve anything within myself because i fully believed i was a consistent and perpetual failure. i know many people out there might like to advise me saying, “Oh it was your parents”, or “The church failed you,” and, “The school system didn’t really do its job.” But when it was all said and done, it was nobody but me. It wasn’t my parents who made me mad or sad or depressed… it was me and I was choosing. No one had the power to make me angry, in fact, my guess is no one was really interested if I was angry except only as far as it affected them.
The truth is, I was choosing. And the real heart issue, above and beyond anyone and everything else was that at my core I didn’t believe Jesus was who He said He was…yea, I’d say it was a basic sin issue. Of course, i didn’t know i didn’t believe it. Looking back at myself all those years ago i’ve concluded i was a poser and didn’t know i was a poser, just lost in all my well-meaning poserism.
Life is happening out in front of me, like looking out the front windshield of the car. In my rearview mirror though, from where I’m sitting I can see some of what is past, and in that view of history I can easily see God’s footsteps, guide posts, the path of answered prayers, old war zones, and even bountiful places… but through it all is the testimony of change as worked by the Lord. Can you see the footsteps of God in your life? They are there for sure… what do they mean to you? If you can’t see them, ask yourself “Why not?” I can assure you, they are there.
Be patient a moment, take a breath and get comfortable… i’ll be right back.
Many times, in my life, I was like a boat which was tied to a dock, and over time my tether to the secure place slowly came undone… i drifted, not even realizing i was slowly floating away. The drift away from righteousness was so gradual it was virtually indiscernible, almost like watching the tide go out you know. It can’t be seen all at once, it’s a gradual ebbing away until one day, you look up and notice that you’re not at the dock anymore, you’re way out in the middle of the lake, and you wonder to yourself, “How in the world did I get way out here?”
Friends, I understand that many of us pray and read our Bibles to some degree probably… most of us have some sort of core beliefs of the Lord concerning who He is and where we are in our relationship to Jesus. Sincerely speaking though, I just don’t think most of us are very honest with the Lord, ourselves, our spouses or friends. And there is a difference between not lying and being honest. Just because we don’t lie doesn’t mean we are being honest, necessarily. Many believers seem to have sort of stopped participating much, we’re frustrated with our job, spouses, children and friends, and it seems that generally, many of us don’t seem to like who we are, where we are, or what we’re doing. Upon further investigation, i’ve come to believe most who have drifted have no idea how to get back to the dock. Sure, going to church, reading your Bible, and praying is absolutely the big three for re-establishing your relationship with God, but having the courage to be honest, and the diligence to put it all into motion is no small ask. Maybe even hell has figured a way to convince us we deserve our guilt and shame and a right to suffer.
Jeremiah 50:6, “My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place.”
Like the boat which went adrift, i believe many people feel as if they have become untethered somehow, having no sense of their joy or peace anymore. Not only do they have the terrible feeling that something is missing, but also seem to have no sense about how to return, and if they do have a desire to return, the fortitude to do it is thin.
Matthew 8:5, “When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.” Ahhh! There is the starting point…. “Help!” “Help” is a great word to begin the path of returning home.
For most of us, our emotional and mental person is a mess and we’re just generally conflicted. What do you say we go together and get some ideas about how to do a little conflict resolution with ourselves? Yea? Let’s talk about it.
Following our use of the word “Help!”, I suppose the next step is that we’ve got to be honest about what’s going on with ourselves. When asked, “Are you angry,” we must stop kidding ourselves by saying “No”, thereby deflecting the question away from ourselves. Watch people drive, do their work, eat lunch … just watch… there is pensiveness in their motions, a tension running through their faces and shoulders. They seem quick to give a short reply, quick to smile maybe but really not involved, in fact, maybe more involved with their phone or iPad than the world around them… maybe most of us would rather watch TV than be involved with our spouses or children…just detached. Chances are good that your spouse doesn’t hate your job, but more likely is how you obsessively do your job, leaving no room for a healthy relationship with your family or friends. Often, when we inquire as to the well-being of a spouse or our children, we’re often tossed a crumb of a reply which is inconclusive. If you inquire further, there rises a subtle anger and frustration … are you angry and just don’t want to admit it? What’s it about? It’s good to recognize our anger, but what is more important is to understand, in depth, “WHY” we are angry. Be specific. One way of viewing anger is seeing it as unmet needs. There’s something larger going on within ourselves and we’re going to have to start by admitting there is turmoil. Internal turmoil is a powerhouse for generating secrets, and once we start creating secrets, it’s a slippery slope toward creating more secrets. Secrets begat secrets.
Once we start planting those seeds, they will grow, and when they grow they will bear fruit, and take it from me, through my hard earned, bruised and beaten life experience, the fruit of our plantings WILL come to find us like children who go looking for their parents. Is the turmoil in your heart planting seeds for a harvest you really want to put in your pockets? Secrets generate fences which not only wall out prying eyes, but also wall us in. Confession builds bridges, and we need more bridges than fences.
If you’re in a relationship and it’s a secret, something is wrong with that. If you’re not being honest and transparent with your spouse, what’s up with that? We go to conferences, raise our hands in praise and worship and put on our brightest faces, while at the same time the rental of adult entertainment at the hotel where we stay while at the conference, goes up 80 plus percent. To me, that speaks of unresolved conflict and deadly secrets. Something is wrong with that.
I had a dream once, and in that dream, I went to a garage sale. I wanted to buy something but the man at the sale refused to tell me what the item was I had in my hand. I remember looking at the man in the dream and saying, “You can’t get rid of your stuff unless you’re willing to call it what it is.” If fear is a problem, it won’t just magically go away unless we’re willing to call it what it is, fear … until we dig it up, look at it, and name it, it will always be this cloud of looming, faceless doom which just hovers over us following us around. Anger is the same way, until we call it what it is, it is just a hovering dark cloud that grows the fruit of isolation, chaos, and secrets, none of which is healthy for anyone.
I spoke to a man at jail who had been incarcerated for 18 years and more. His life had all but been stolen from him by his being constantly in jail and prison. I asked him what was going on inside him, and he said, “I’m just angry all the time, angry about anything and everything. ALL my emotions are anger.” I asked him what he was so angry about … you know, he couldn’t tell me, but he could tell me that since he had asked Jesus into his life, up to that point, he had been completely unwilling to even admit he was actually angry.
Proverbs 22:24, “Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man do not go,”
Several years ago, we had a disgruntled and angry man attending our fellowship. He was critical of everything, in fact, he told me it was his calling to point out the things which needed correction in the church. Of course, eventually we had to address the situation because you can’t let things like that stand. The Lord plainly said to me, “Do not contend with a contentious man; do not go to the wrestling mat with this fellow, that is My work.” Eventually, all our controlling and manipulating leads to living a very frustrated life. You can’t control every minute and every penny of another person’s life and expect them to not feel like a captive, eventually despising your presence and even the sound of your voice. Is that really what you want?
The problem isn’t them, the problem is within yourself; and the more we don’t deal with our internal conflicts, the more the conflicts make us bleed. We must call on the name of Jesus and stop the bleeding friends. Be honest and call it what it is. Stop the bleeding friends, stop the bleeding.
Proverbs 30:33, “… as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.”
All through Saul’s life, he couldn’t control his own life, so he controlled and strong armed those around him. How many of us are like that? Can’t control your own life, so you control those around you, putting unkind requirements on them, ones you yourself can’t even keep.
Proverbs 29:22, “An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins.”
At some point we must take the words of our God seriously, putting them in motion in our lives. How miserable must we become before we begin to take action towards reconciling with our family, friends, and God? Where is your tipping point?
2 Corinthians 5:14 says, “For the love of Christ compels us…”, and that word “compels” is a Greek word which means “to hold together” or, “to hold fast”. When our life becomes untethered to the rock who is Christ, our hearts become soured and sad. It is Christ, the Love of God who holds us together. To return home we must be honest with ourselves and call our conflicts what they are. We say we love, but love would never advance, aggrandize, nor does it diminish loved ones to exalt itself. Love tempers and restrains our passions, and never leverages the outcome of things in its own favor at the expense of others.
i do what the Lord asks of me because it’s the right thing to do, not because i’m going to get something in return, as if i’m always measuring the return on an investment, and certainly not because i’m always measuring my wellbeing by how obedient i am. i used to do that because i wanted to do well while here in this life. But now i am obedient because i love Jesus, not out of obligation, doing the rules and law, or out of fear of Heaven’s anger and rage – as if God is going to get you if you don’t do right… that’s not true of Him. i do what He asks of me because i love the Lord and His way really is the best way. i heard a woman ask a great question recently, she asked, “If we say we are walking as Christians but we aren’t being obedient, are we actually being Christians?” i thought that was a great question: how do we walk uprightly with the Lord and be disobedient at the same time? At that i want to add, we can’t just “do the rules” either. In Ephesians 4:26, it says, “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.” That’s easy to say, but let me say again, having wisdom and doing wisdom can be two very different things. It’s easy to say, “Don’t be angry”, but then learning to have the presence of mind to be reasonable and not allow yourself to be angry is a difficult and fiery trial indeed. It would seem we, ourselves are the prime cause of our misery. Hear this: There are some things which are pleasant in the evening but are dismal in the morning light.
If we who are contentious and conflicted allowing our anger and frustration to continue, blaming others and controlling the very breath of those around us, let me say, as it is true of every sin, contention and unresolved conflict is only bitterness in the end of it all, and it bites like a poisonous snake releasing it’s venom in your soul and body.
In 2Sam13 Absoloam nursed his anger, frustration, and bitterness for two years, and in the end it was isolation and death. Absoloam’s words came out of his mouth smooth as butter, but in his heart there was war.
Let … it … go. Open your hands and let your bitter memories drift into the distance. Some memories truly should not be forgotten, but those things of anger, frustration and bitterness cannot be allowed to keep making front page news on your soul’s newspaper. Put them in their proper place, back on the last page and leave them there. Let Jesus into your heart, accept his forgiveness and then extend it to others, not for their sake for truly most people don’t actually want your forgiveness, it’s not for them, it’s for you. Let … it … go.
We can’t continue to be so angry and unresolved you know. The Lord says there are better things to do. You know what i’m saying? Think about it.
Philippians 4:7-8, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”
It’s been another beautiful evening, the sun setting low, as the day ebbs into twilight and all things tend to come to rest for a while. i pray your heart will be at rest, letting your anger and frustration go. Proverbs 3:13, “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding;”
James 1:20, “For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
Difficult circumstances are not really the problem … my problem is my reaction to the difficult circumstances. Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
Be strong and courageous this week. Take action digging into what it is which is at the heart of your conflicted heart and DO something about it, take action to resolve the conflict.
Read your Bible, pray without ceasing, be at peace, and be honest with God and yourself. Amen.