dW 05.07.07

scripture

Jonah 4:1-4

But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?"

 

thought

Isn’t how Jonah describes God a complete oxymoron to how Jonah requests that God then take his life? Uncontrolled anger produces irrational thought and creates distance between us and God.  

 

quote

I avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward.

Charlotte Bronte

 

overseas experience

My wife and I went to the Middle East 3 years ago to visit an American friend of mine that was serving for a Christian mission organization. He introduced us to his Muslim friend Wil. Wil taught English at a local university to the Arabic students. While walking one day he and I were teaching each other our languages. He would ask me what an English word was or meant and then we’d say it in Arabic. We were laughing trying to pronounce the words and enjoying our new friendship. Then without hesitation he reached over and put his hand in my hand. I didn’t know what to do. I was freaking out inside. My head was racing, “I am walking down a street with another man that is holding my hand.” Behind us I could hear my American friend laughing.

Come to find out… In the Middle East men hug, hold hands, and greet each other with kisses on the cheek. In the West we have such a need for personal space. Overseas either the population size does not allow this space or the culture just does not require it like we do.

 

Bag of Nails

My aunt sent this to me a few days ago. It is a story that I like because I can relate to it but I also don’t like it for the same reason.

 

Bag of Nails

 

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. 

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

 

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.”

dW 03.09.07

scripture
Ephesians 4:26-27
"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

song
I’ll start walking your way
You start walking mine
We’ll meet in the middle beneath that old Georgia Pine
We gain a lot of ground if we both give a little
There ain’t no road too long
If we meet in the middle
Meet in the Middle - Diamond Rio

thought

Here are some interesting points to think about concerning the verses above.

In your anger do not sin…
-anger is acceptable but often times misplaced and wrongly expressed

If you let the sun go down on your anger then the devil gains a foot hold
- anger left unresolved leads to bitterness, bitterness builds walls, and the devil will use them as tools to keep you from fellowship with both that person and with God

dW 02.12.07

scripture

Proverbs 29:22
An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins.

Ephesians 4:26

When angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath last until the sun goes down.


quote

My life is in the hands of any fool who makes me lose my temper.
Joseph Hunter