"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice." -Ephesians 4:31
Sometimes it can come in a flash. One minute things are great. You are calm and collected. And then something sets you off -- or too many things piled on top of each other are suddenly too much to bear. And like a gurgling, bubbling mad hot volcano, anger comes spewing out of you.
It's a visceral, body-consuming emotion. It tenses every muscle in your body. Your fists clench in frustration. Your voice rises, becoming louder with each syllable. It seems as if we have no choice but to react -- to release that all-consuming, powerful, even BLINDING emotion.
But we DO have a choice when it comes to anger. As Brooke says in the LG, "We can choose to embrace it and sin. Or choose to put it away, and instead choose kindness, self-control, compassion and love."
We can choose GOD over ourselves, over anger. And I want so badly for my sons to make that choice -- for me to make that choice.
I know that so many of us have commented on how God is at work in our hearts just as much as He is in the hearts of our sons. Brooke shares this for today. "Man! It seems like every single thing we've prayed for so far starts with what's in our hearts! I'm afraid anger is no different. Today, when you're tempted to sin in anger, ask the Lord to show you the way (He promises He will) and choose grace and love instead."
Today, as you pray the ten prayers in the anger chapter, ask the Lord to do just that -- to show you and your sons the way out when anger rears its ugly head. He promises He will lead you out to grace and love instead of anger and wrath.
Have you seen specific ways that God has brought something beautiful from a situation you thought was lost with your son(s)? Recall it here in the comments or on the Facebook page.
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