The sun setting on another glorious day 
Resolving anger… whenever I go to bed angry or upset it really disrupts my world. This totally muddles our sense of harmony, and distances us from God.
Often times my first few moments when I wake up set the tone for my whole day. My mind is clear and immediately filled with something good…
To me, I find this is totally a function of one thing: I do my best to not go to bed angry. I’ve been told countless times that I’m way too kind and forgiving. Too kind and forgiving? I don’t know, this sounds a little too much like a LOVELY JESUS thing… however, I personally believe we should…
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10
but, whatever… too kind and forgiving? This sounds ridiculous…
maybe another post…
the point I’m trying to make here is this: I could still be fuming over something that may have upset me but I chose to let it go… as I have so many other times… and instead of harboring a grudge, I am able to quickly heal and recover.
Waking up with a wedge… let me explain. Whenever we go to bed angry or carry around really bad feelings for days on end what happens is we distance ourselves from God and give the evil one a foothold in our mind, heart and spirit.
“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 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.”‘ Ephesians 4: 25-27
But how?
- Pray about it. Ask God to lead you in resolving the conflict. Also, as I’ve mentioned, forgiveness is critical. I have a forgiveness prayer. It works.
- Talk it out. It’s often a matter of honestly and sincerely expressing our feelings… however, the most important part may just be having a humbled spirit… and being ready to listen.
I’ve always thought that the sooner we can resolve a conflict, the better. When this happens we can live in the light and God’s glorious presence… and that’s more awesome than most anything… even the awesome surfer dream
Are you sleeping with a wedge? Do you feel we can ever be too kind or forgiving?
I appreciate the idea of a wedge as the Devil’s foothold. A wedge is one of the five basic machines in physics. A pretty darned powerful one, too. Just a tiny point of entry and the rest is just a matter of leverage.
Whenever I have trouble sleeping, I ALWAYS discover I have forgotten to say my nightly prayers. Once I do that–it’s like leaving everything (including wedges) at Jesus’ feet. Wedges make horribly uncomfortable pillows.
This was another great post, Chris.
“Wedges make horribly uncomfortable pillows” – that’s a masterpiece, Carol !!
I’m using the wedge theme all week here, stick around… not all bad stuff though… like this wedge, where it is so very important to quickly resolve and restore… there is really nothing to fear when He is with us…
“So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
Love the wedge analogy. Unfortunately sometimes things are out of our control. We can choose to stew about it or do something I read in an old email. I put my issues in a box I call something for God to handle. I just surrender control, give it to God to handle and then I sleep well at night. It is sometimes hard to remember that there is nothing too big or too small for God to handle for us.
So very true Neil, excellent point!
“If you’re mad at someone you have to forgive them for you. You have a choice to make, either think about them all day long and let them keep hurting you inside… or give them to God. We are products of our past but we don’t have to be prisoners to it. Practicing forgiveness is less an act than a determined way of living. True forgiveness only comes at the conclusion of an inner struggle.” – Andy Andrews, from The Heart Mender.
When we really can hand something over to God to let Him deal with it there is a tremendous feeling of inner peace… it’s a sign of strength and not weakness that allows us to do this… letting it go and giving it to God… man, I am so thankful that I know that He is there for me in these difficult situations…