Have you asked and asked and asked (and begged) God to change your circumstance? I sure have. When we carry a heavy burden for a long time, we get weary and worn down. An extended hospital stay. A hard marriage. An unfair project at work. A health issue. A chronic or even terminal diagnosis.
There are so many things in this life we wish God would change. We ask. He doesn’t always do what we ask when we ask, right?
You’re probably turkeyed-out about now, right?
If you’re not out helping to boost the economy with all the other shoppers on Black Friday, you may just want to snuggle up with some hot chocolate and think about being grateful. So… can I join you? Let’s get real about gratefulness.
But, first, I need to get real about anger… because anger keeps us from gratefulness.
“Down Sparky!”
That’s what I wanted to say so badly to the woman in line in front of me who was having a five-star meltdown!
I wanted to, but, I did not! I was afraid she would turn around and hit me!
The sister was 2 seconds away from losing what was left of her cool.
I vividly remember the night before Christmas when I was nine years old.
One of our family traditions was that each child got to open one gift on Christmas Eve.
Each year, my brothers and I spent most of the month deciding which gift that would be. We began our research in early December, and as each gift appeared beneath the tree, we carefully examined it, checking the weight and shape of each box, looking for clues to what was inside. As you can imagine, by Christmas Eve the gift we had chosen to open had become the most coveted one under the tree.
That year my brother, Lawson, and I both chose a gift from Aunt Patti. (Our brother David was a baby and still too young to care.) Aunt Patti was young and hip. She knew what kinds of presents kids liked, and now she joined my parents on the couch to watch the events unfold.
If there is one question that I have been asked over and over since I became blind, it is some version of this:
“Were you angry at God?” or, “How did you get over your anger toward God?”
I am not an expert on anger…
I just have a lot of experience with it — I mean A LOT!
