Welcome back to this week’s Faithful Friday encouragement.
I will admit this week, I have dealt with anxiety. Sometimes it seems like the smallest thing can plague your thoughts . It becomes the focus. You toss and turn losing sleep. You know there is nothing you can do. You can’t control the outcome of a situation tomorrow. You don’t know how a person will react; it’s not in your control. You can only control how you yourself will respond after they speak. Worry and anxiety will cause loss: a loss of peace, of rest, and sleep. Leaving you tired and ill prepared or equipped to handle the next day’s challenges. I don’t know about you, but when I am tired I snap too much in anger.
I had this dream on 12/18/2022 and it became a teachable lesson .
A 2 liter soda was thrown across a kitchen floor. It busted and the soda spilled all over the floor. The bottle was picked up and maybe about 1/4 of the soda remained in the bottle. I cried as I saw the bottle.
The scene changed slightly , like another scenario of what could have happened. The soda was on the counter and there was no throwing of it across the floor. The soda fizzed and released like it should have when someone is getting a drink . No mess remained.
Immediately the dream ended , and the Lord spoke about anger.
The verse from James 1:19-20 came to mind…
19 So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God.
He brought to mind these thoughts as well:
When we explode in anger, we may feel better temporarily because we have gotten what was bothering us off our chest and out. The feelings we had kept quiet about are known. But all the exploding in anger does is erupt on other people, like that soda on the floor. It must be cleaned up by someone , whether us ourselves or someone else. Soda is very sticky and can leave behind a sticky floor for others to step into if we do not clean it properly. We weep because we hurt others , either intentionally or not, and we may deal with the regrets and shame.
When we do not handle our anger properly, it effects others in different ways. Ask forgiveness quickly so relationships can be restored. Just like spilled soda can’t go back into the bottle, neither can we take back what has been spoken in anger. It’s not a sin to be angry, it becomes a sin when we do not handle the God given emotion properly.
When we step away and breathe before responding, we are less likely to explode in anger and / or pain.
I encourage everyone if you struggle with anger talk about it with the Lord and see what triggers that response. We never know how deep the roots go, until we ask the One who saw and knows all the details of whatever past and present circumstances that may be causing the issue. God may be waiting on you to ask Him, so He can heal you one step at a time.
Also grief has hit again this week and sometimes I don’t handle it well. Sometimes I think I should just be over it, just like previous times. Sometimes the loss of my best friend hits as raw as it did over a year and half ago. Today , as I spending time with the Lord, He reminded me that some wounds are deeper than others depending on how close we are to them. Sometimes of acquaintances can seem like a cut that heals in a few days. Other deaths can take a while .
My dad who passed in December 2023 had spent almost 2 years as an amputee of one of his legs. It was a surgery that changed his life. Sometimes loss in death is like that: forever changed.
If we know Jesus as Lord and Savior, then we have Hope that those that know Him will be reunited forever, but doesn’t mean the temporary separation doesn’t hurt.
This morning I wrote in my remembrance journal today . I thought it would be a long passage of “Do not worry…” but it was simply this :
1 Peter 5:7
7 casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.
Have you ever wondered why this simple verse is right before these:
8 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.9 Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
I realized today that worry gets our focus off. We keep our emotions “bottled up” and don’t share them out of fear of being misunderstood. Finally, we explode in anger or seek to cope in harmful ways . God invites us to “Cast” all that is bothering us on Him, so it doesn’t become fuel for the enemy to tempt and destroy us.
Will you discuss what’s on your heart and mind with the Lord today? You may realize those moments bring peace and calm like He did for me this morning. What if that peace could have been sooner, had I came to the Lord honestly the night I couldn’t sleep earlier this week? I am realizing we are leaving Him out of our lives is causing us more harm in the long run, because we aren’t going to the One in control for advice. He knows our past , present, and future. Why would we not ask Him how to handle the situations and challenges we face? Will we cast our cares on Him today?
