A Seething Anger
The young man that sat with me was slumped in his seat. His head was down and his voice shaken. The words poured from his mouth as he described the angry actions of his former spouse.
“I can’t understand why she is does what she does.”
Everything that can be done by his former spouse to make his life miserable is done. There are times that it seems that she must stay awake to concoct another scheme to increase the misery. It is a classic case of marital breakdown. The part that is hard to understand is that it has continued for over 10 years now. Both are now married to other people. Both have new lives.
How can anyone hate that long? There must be a “hate lab” where you can get your “hate-r” adjusted and have a new battery put in it. There has to be a place that is available to groom hate to keep it alive so long.
As I have been studying the Bible on this subject the results are growing more real and becoming clearer each day. A verse that jumps out says, “An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins.” Proverbs 29:22. It is clear that this kind of person has a major problem inside.
On the other hand I have watched with amazement another situation where the divorce has taken place long ago. The couple that I came to know lived happily together. They also lived happily, in their relationships, with the former spouse of the husband. In fact the two wives were friendly with each other.
I know that this is likely the oddity in most family counseling offices.
The discovery in the Bible of the cause of anger is amazing. Proverbs 25:23 says, “As a north wind brings rain, so a sly tongue brings angry looks.”
No doubt about it a tongue can cause huge amounts of anger. It has to wag just the right amount in the right setting to produce a very wrong and terrifying result. Over a hot cup of coffee, at a meal time, and even in a church foyer… a nicely wagged tongue can set up someone for anger. If it is done often enough it can get a following.
During the World War 2 this kind of tongue wagging was done well by Hitler. In the right settings, with people that listened, he simply planted stories and made rulings about the Jewish people that would destroy millions in the events we now call the Holocaust. It is definitely an example of a sly tongue that has caused great damage.
Politicians are a great at this. Sly tongues produce anger in any audience. Used properly and effectively a “good politician” is able to get themselves elected… and have everyone hating his opponent(s).
Angry and jaded women or men can continue to destroy lives around them – especially former spouse whom they hate!
Oh – and it happens in church all the time. Last Sunday in the foyer it happened at least three times with in 15 minutes of the service close. One situation I witnessed personally. Two others were reported to me before the end of the day. Imagine after spending at least 90 minutes in the presence of God, listening to prayers to God and hearing a sermon about God – they got angry… and exploded again. (All three people are known to have been and still are angry about something.)
A prayer for today…
“Oh God help me to avoid these kind of sly tongues today – just one 24 hour period. First off God I ask for help. I want you to help me guard my own tongue. Next Lord, I need you to help me move away from people that are just plain nasty with their words. Help me to hear the nasty and then get away from it… far from it. Forgive me for my own nasty, tongue wagging over these years. Then Lord, please help the others around me.
I pray especially for the political steam that is building in our country. Help our political men and women to avoid building anger in surrounding groups to help themselves get elected.”
And God… I ask that you would heal the hearts of the young couple that have lost so much. Heal angry hearts and sly tongues today.
In Jesus name I ask it… Amen.”
“I can’t understand why she is does what she does.”
Everything that can be done by his former spouse to make his life miserable is done. There are times that it seems that she must stay awake to concoct another scheme to increase the misery. It is a classic case of marital breakdown. The part that is hard to understand is that it has continued for over 10 years now. Both are now married to other people. Both have new lives.
How can anyone hate that long? There must be a “hate lab” where you can get your “hate-r” adjusted and have a new battery put in it. There has to be a place that is available to groom hate to keep it alive so long.
As I have been studying the Bible on this subject the results are growing more real and becoming clearer each day. A verse that jumps out says, “An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins.” Proverbs 29:22. It is clear that this kind of person has a major problem inside.
On the other hand I have watched with amazement another situation where the divorce has taken place long ago. The couple that I came to know lived happily together. They also lived happily, in their relationships, with the former spouse of the husband. In fact the two wives were friendly with each other.
I know that this is likely the oddity in most family counseling offices.
The discovery in the Bible of the cause of anger is amazing. Proverbs 25:23 says, “As a north wind brings rain, so a sly tongue brings angry looks.”
No doubt about it a tongue can cause huge amounts of anger. It has to wag just the right amount in the right setting to produce a very wrong and terrifying result. Over a hot cup of coffee, at a meal time, and even in a church foyer… a nicely wagged tongue can set up someone for anger. If it is done often enough it can get a following.
During the World War 2 this kind of tongue wagging was done well by Hitler. In the right settings, with people that listened, he simply planted stories and made rulings about the Jewish people that would destroy millions in the events we now call the Holocaust. It is definitely an example of a sly tongue that has caused great damage.
Politicians are a great at this. Sly tongues produce anger in any audience. Used properly and effectively a “good politician” is able to get themselves elected… and have everyone hating his opponent(s).
Angry and jaded women or men can continue to destroy lives around them – especially former spouse whom they hate!
Oh – and it happens in church all the time. Last Sunday in the foyer it happened at least three times with in 15 minutes of the service close. One situation I witnessed personally. Two others were reported to me before the end of the day. Imagine after spending at least 90 minutes in the presence of God, listening to prayers to God and hearing a sermon about God – they got angry… and exploded again. (All three people are known to have been and still are angry about something.)
A prayer for today…
“Oh God help me to avoid these kind of sly tongues today – just one 24 hour period. First off God I ask for help. I want you to help me guard my own tongue. Next Lord, I need you to help me move away from people that are just plain nasty with their words. Help me to hear the nasty and then get away from it… far from it. Forgive me for my own nasty, tongue wagging over these years. Then Lord, please help the others around me.
I pray especially for the political steam that is building in our country. Help our political men and women to avoid building anger in surrounding groups to help themselves get elected.”
And God… I ask that you would heal the hearts of the young couple that have lost so much. Heal angry hearts and sly tongues today.
In Jesus name I ask it… Amen.”
posted by Murray Lincoln at
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home