Sometimes we want to hand our anger over to Jesus, and, yet, we don’t want to. There is a great struggle inside. The Christian self says, “Give the anger to Jesus,” but other voices say, “No way!”
What do we do?
Do we force ourselves to give up that anger?
Let me suggest there is a better way. We bring Jesus into this struggle, because He makes the impossible easy.
When I’m praying with someone who is trying to process their anger, I ask, “Is there any reason why you would not want to give your anger to Jesus? Look inside your heart, and give me the first reason that comes to mind, even if it seems crazy.”
Then we go through the reasons. Those reasons are like chains that keep the anger bound to that person’s heart.
What do we do with the reasons? I don’t do anything with them. I don’t argue with them. I don’t reason with them. I just hand them over to Jesus. “Jesus, what do you want ____ to know about that?” Jesus knows how to cut the chains; I don’t. So why should I try to deal with them?
Pretty soon the reasons are gone; the chains are gone. Now giving the anger to Jesus is no big deal. What was impossible a few moments earlier is now a snap.
I think you could call that a miracle.
From the Bible:
Sure, you will get angry. Everybody does. But don’t let your anger turn into sin. Release it to God before the day ends. Ephesians 4:26 The Easy Bible
More tomorrow…
Photo credit: Adapted from a photo by Adam Kubalica, Flickr, Creative Commons License
