It was not an easy day. Something happened that, while in the scheme of things was very small, was nonetheless very frustrating. I was angry and I felt betrayed and violated. As I was feeling these emotions, I was being told by a person I respect that this was "just a test" and I should "be grateful" and all that James 1:2 stuff that I just happened to read yesterday. And in that moment, I just became more angry and more frustrated. I got the impression that having these "negative" emotions made me less spiritual - less holy - than I was supposed to be.
So now I'm conflicted. We're told that emotions are from God. We should be in touch with them without letting them rule us. I wanted to take my moment and deal with my anger, and THEN see it from a better perspective. But is that right? Is that even remotely Biblical? Should I feel guilty for being angry?
In Ephesians 4:6 we are told, "In your anger do not sin." This seems to indicate that the anger itself is NOT sin. So how long am I allowed to be angry? Probably not long enough for it to turn to bitterness. I guess the bottomline is that after I've acknowledged my anger, I must choose to hand it to God and let Him deal with it. By completely avoiding the emotion and just stuffing it, it may likely come up in some inappropriate way further down the line.
So I choose to recognize my feelings and surrender them (and the situation) to the Lord. Now the whole thing is His problem.
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2 comments:
Amanda,
Sorry for whatever that was that happened. Betrayed and violated are strong words.
It is NOT wrong to be angry. I was going to say it makes you human, but then I realized, God is angry and feels betrayed any number of times in scripture. So it is not wrong to have feelings.
Maybe by a "test" they meant that the story we are in has an enemy. That your being wounded by him using others to try and keep you from being who you are?
Hope today is a much better day for you!
I think.. it's not having the emotion of anger but rather how our anger effects others around us. Are we pulling everyone into our tornado? Are we projecting our anger on to everyone in our path? Anger at times is my mild name.. so I understand. I often get angry that God gave me anger.....
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