Who angers you?

Do you find yourself getting angry with or at someone?  Do you begin to think or say things that you typically wouldn't?  Is this person a family member, neighbor, coworker, boss, friend, or someone you have never met?

You make not think much about it, but that anger runs so much deeper than you think.  The definition of anger is "a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility" so then we need to look at annoyance, displeasure, and hostility.  However, when you look up annoyance it speaks of anger, displeasure speaks of anger, but hostility speaks of unfriendliness.  Often if you are angry at someone you then begin talking about them, and the snowball begins.  You get angry, tell someone else, and continue to spread the anger by telling others or talking about the person, then before you know it that first seed of anger has spread. 

I too have fallen subject to anger.  I held in anger towards relatives and others in my life.  There are times that I still feel myself getting angry, but I have to let it go.  I realized years ago that if you allow someone to make you angry and stay angry then they control you.  I realized that I have to forgive the person, for myself not them  I have the ability to choose how I react to the person.  I can get angry and give them power, or give it to God and give all of the power to Him.  I am not implying that I never get angry, but I am a lot faster to let it go now.

Now lets see what God says about anger:

Ecclesiates 7:9 - Control your temper for anger labels you a fool
Ephesians 4:27 - for anger fives a foothold to the devil
James 1:20 - Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires

That puts a different spin on things doesn't it?  We may think it isn't hurting anyone, but in reality it is hurting God and that is someone I never want to hurt.  How can we change this?  People will continue to upset you, and possibly anger you.  However, you and you alone have the choice of how to react.  You can react in peace, in forgiveness, and in love or you can continue the anger seeds. 

Is there someone that comes to mind when you read all of this?  Imagine the relief you will feel when you forgive them.  You do not have to reconcile the relationship, or allow them back in your in your life.  No one deserves to be in an unhealthy relationship, or to be harmed but everyone does deserve to live in peace.  Once you forgive the person the peace will begin. 

Take a moment and think of who angers you, so that you can begin taking the steps necessary to claim the control of your life back.  Just because you address this today doesn't mean that you will never be angered again.  However, it does mean that next time you will be better equipped to respond and retain the control.

Snow day

So Monday afternoon we began getting snow.  While I love snow I hate the fact that more often than not my husband will end up having to work.  Every year when I get excited about snow he will just puff.  Well Monday was no different, he was able to come home early but was waiting to be called back in.  The phone rang about 12:30 am and off to scrap the roads he went.  Daycare was closed so Emma and I played until Steve came home around lunch time.  Emma loves the snow like I do so we made a few trips out to play in the snow.  Of course the trips were short since we didn't want her to get too cold or too sick. 

I know a lot of people do not like snow, but for me it is such a peaceful time.  You can walk outside and it is silent, glistening, and blanketed in white.  The snow coats and covers everything, and I see it as another masterpiece by God.  Each individual snowflake, coming together, and making everything the same (white).  Isn't that like God's love for us? We are each an individual then cleaned of our sin, and come together as His children.  We are all covered in His peaceful, glistening, and perfect love.  We have people come into our lives and they may bring sin with them.  This creates footprints in our perfect covering.  So our perfection is tempted, molded, and shaped by the world.  We have wonderful people leading us to God, they are like the weathermen telling us that the snow is coming.  Once we accept God's love we are cleaned white as snow by the blood that Jesus shed.  While our world is now perfect, covered in white, glistening, and peaceful we still have the rest of the world around us.  We may have a past of people telling us that God isn't good, and they can be seen as spreading the brine.  They are hoping that God's word doesn't stick in our lives.  We have people who try to tell us we aren't good enough they can be seen as the snow plow.  They try to take everything away that God has promised as if we never experienced the peaceful covering of love.  We have people tell us that no one loves us and plants the seeds of doubt, they are the salt spreaders.  The longer we dwell on it the more it eats away at our covering.  We have the people who pretend to be our friends, pretend to be Christians, and in the end we slip up in their world, like black ice.  These are often as dangerous as black ice because we never see it coming until we have fallen. 

Even after all of this guess what there is good news.  We still have the weathermen telling us that the snow is coming.  Even after the snowplow, the salt, the black ice, and the footprints in our snow we can turn to God and be covered in peace again.  We can tell others how God has saved us, and share the peace with them.  

We can't just look at others we have to look at ourselves as well. Have you been the weatherman, the snowplow, salt, or the black ice to people around you?  We can spread the peace of knowing God instead of being a snowplow, salt, or black ice in their lives. 

Can you identify people in your life that represent the weathermen, snowplows, salt, or black ice?  How can you change this, and how can you change your role in the lives of others?

In all areas- enjoy playing in the snow!!