Letting things go has been a theme for the majority of my life that I have always found hard to do. It could be anything from someone eating my food out of the refrigerator to losing at sports games in my youth, to being significantly emotionally hurt by someone very close to me. These are memories that I have held on to this day, that has left with this chamber of battle scars and a mental inventory of everyone’s wrongdoings against me. Needless to say, I did not let it go.
This has been something God has working on within me lately. In the moments or times something triggered those memories, I always felt some sadness, but above all, a great amount of anger.
My anger just added fuel to the fire that these transgressions had already lit within me. The thing about anger is that it just continues to get bigger and bigger as it festers, ultimately destroying everything in its path.
God, through Solomon, illuminates to us something very important about anger.
“Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools”(Ecclesiastes 7:9).
I don’t know about any of you, but I hate looking and even feeling like a fool. However, I’ve fallen victim to the subtle trap that anger always presents plenty of times in my past. Anger has led me to do or say things that I always regret. Anger has done this to plenty of us. Anger has started wars, destroyed relationships, and taken so many lives. And most importantly, makes us less like God, and does the very opposite of what our brother, James reminds us to do, which is “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires” (James 1:19-20).
The world presents anger as this tool for motivation of some sort, fueling us to endure through hard or rough times, and as a characteristic that awards one with masculinity, or as something to revel in when something bad happens to you.
But from personal experience, I know it is more than that, and that it (anger) does more bad than good. The world’s ways are opposite of God’s. However, the Bible mentions, “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty.” (Galatians 5:9-10).
With that being said, there are a lot of thoughts and opinions that exist in the world today, but the Word of God greatly reminds us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and He will make your paths straight”(Proverbs 3:5-6). Ultimately, you have to choose whether you believe in God’s Word and will apply it in your life or will you follow the world, and your own flesh, but we have already read not to do the latter.
I’ll leave you with this: anger is something deadly and unwise to play with. If left to burn and run amok, it can only lead to more issues. When my anger went unchecked, my life and future were always turned upside down. It lead me to ruin relationships and thwart my own happiness and joy. We get angry when things don’t go our way, when we’re waiting on God and His promises, or when doesn’t respond how we want them to, just to name a few. We do not and may not be able to establish control over these things, but we can control how we let these things affect us. It’s all up to us and our willingness to forgive and forget like God, truly putting it behind us.
Words of Encouragement/Advice to Help You Let It Go:
Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. (Proverbs 17:9)
Let that stuff go, you’ll feel lighter.
We are to forgive because God first forgave us,
LIVE. LOVE. FORGIVE. And REPEAT!
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 3:5-6, 17:9 ; Ecclesiastes 7:9 ; Galatians 5:9-10 ;
James 1:19-20
