I Blew It: A Lesson in Anger and Patience

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I'm not perfect.


I know, right? Shocking. Or not so much. I am a human. I make mistakes.  I sin. I yell at the top of my lungs in front of the people I love most in this world. And i feel like a world class heel.

Remember the Looney Tunes characters when they get mad? Yeah, that was me. I'm not proud of it. There are all kinds of excuses. It's Monday. I was hungry. Blah blah blah. 
   The truth of the matter is I let stress and anger get the better of me and I blew my top. Two people were in tears and everyone in the house was stressed. 

The King James bible says in James 3:8,  But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

Anger is as contagious as the measles. One person goes off the deep end, others follow. It isn't pretty. What gets me is I've been studying about anger and patience in my quiet time. I've been praying about it. I've been trying to learn the lessons God would have me to learn. I'm trying to see this morning's screamfest not as abject failure, but, as a friend touched on yesterday, a moment of clarity. 

One of the verses that stood out to me in today's study was Luke 11:40

Be ye therefore ready also; for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. 

While that verse actually means to have yourself ready spiritually when Christ comes for his bride, I think it can also be applied to not letting your guard down when it comes to sin.

The bible tells us  
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:  1 Peter 5:8
  The end result of the big blow up?  I apologized, the offended party apologized, and we hugged. I still feel like a world class heel, but maybe that's a good thing right now. It's like a mental spanking. That sting can remind me to hold my tongue and speak more calmly next time.

A Morning Cup of Tea: Mark 3: 1-7

 Jesus is once again in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Waiting for him there is a man with a withered hand. Of course, the Pharisees are also there and they see this. For them it is unlawful to do anything on the Sabbath other than to go to the synagogue, and very little else. 
 Jesus asked the Pharisees, " Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life or to kill?" (v 4) But they held their peace.
  Mark says Jesus looked on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts. (v5) He healed the man's hand and when the Pharisees sought out the Herodians to discuss how to destroy Jesus, Jesus took his disciples to the sea. 
  Jesus was angry with the Pharisees. They didn't have compassion on a man with a hand he could not use. They saw and cared only for the law. Instead of caring for their fellow man, they were there only to be sure the law was kept.  We should not be so intent on "being good" that we forget to treat our brothers and sisters with kindness. That does not mean that we can choose to or not to follow Christ's teachings willy nilly. It means that if a friend needs to go to the emergency room on Sunday morning, by all means take him. Call a little later to let someone know where you are. It shouldn't matter what day of the week it is when someone needs you. 
  Also, notice that Jesus was angry but he did not throw a fit. He healed the man and went on.  We don't always have to act on our feelings.