This evening in my English Comp class at college we had to write a brief paper on things that really make us mad. I really got a chuckle when our instructor wrote that topic on the board. The very first thing that I thought of was how much work the Lord has done on my heart in the last year. A year ago I would at times get so angry and mad that I actually would get tunnel vision and my blood pressure would get so high that I’d have chest pains and my eyes would hurt. Getting that angry is not good.
Don’t get me wrong, I still get angry at time. I just don’t get so overbearingly angry like I used too. I’ve had several occasions when I could have really lost it but in general I’ve stayed in control. Looking back, in the last year I’ve only lost my temper really bad one time. The last time I lost my temper I had a right to be angry, I just didn’t have the right to loose my temper like I did. God made sure it was a humiliating enough experience with all of the apologizing that I had to do that I’ll think twice before I do that again!
So what has happened in the past year to enable me to not get so angry? I can see where two major things happened to change my getting angry. I really don’t know that one has any more bearing then the other so I’ll start with the first. In my blog here I’ve talked in great depth about the “Fred Challenge” that I took. For a recap the Fred Challenge is reading a chapter of the Book of Proverbs every day for a year. There are thirty-one chapters in Proverbs and I read the chapter of Proverbs that corresponds with that day. The Fred Challenge lasts for a year and I’ve got two more months.
Proverbs is one of the Wisdom Books in the Bible along with Job, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes. Pouring God’s wisdom into me about how to live life on a daily basis has done more for me then any Bible study I’ve ever done. Reading over and over about how to control your temper and why people do the things they do has been a life changing adventure for me! When people do things now to try to make me feel angry I many times feel compassion and sympathy on that person being able to see inside them and seeing how miserable they must feel at times.
What else has changed me? I would have to say being diagnosed with Bipolar disorder and ADHD and then getting my Bipolar under control and starting to get a handle on my ADHD. The fact that I’m not all amped up and on the edge all of the time makes it much easier to handle anger provoking situations when they arise.
And just what does make me angry? I’m not so perfect that I don’t still get mad. Kids talking back will still set me off. I love God and when I hear someone take my Father’s name in vain I just want to reach out and grab them and shout “Do you know what you just did? That’s my Father you’re talking about!” That’s my two biggies!
What’s makes you angry?
Be Blessed!
BIG SCOTT
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