By Andrea Merrell
Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses … Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!
Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV
In my twenties and thirties, anger became my
default. I took everything personally and was easily offended. I automatically reacted
to the slightest annoyance while struggling to keep my emotions in check. I
cried, prayed, and constantly asked for forgiveness. This went on for years,
and I could never understand why God didn’t just take the anger away.
Then one day during my quiet time (when I was
actually listening instead of doing all the talking), I heard that still, small
whisper: You’re choosing to be angry.
Thoughts shot through my head like bottle rockets
on the Fourth of July. Excuse me. Choosing? Not me, Lord. I hate being
angry. You’ve got to be kidding. But in my heart I knew the answer to my
desperate prayers had finally come. The responsibility fell on me, and it was
time to choose a different response.
When I was growing up and someone would act in an
unbecoming manner, my grandfather would say, “That boy sure has a mind of his
own.” Well said, and so true. God gave us a mind and a will, granting us the capacity
to make choices. We can make the right ones or live with the consequences of
the wrong ones. What a shame when we have to get older before we learn the biblical
principle of choosing life and blessings over death and curses.
Since there are no do-overs, I can’t go back and
change the past, but many years of walking with the Lord have taught me to make
better choices. Am I still tempted to get angry? Definitely. But
God has lengthened my fuse, shown me a better way, and I no longer walk around
ready to blow.
How about you?
(Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and graur razvan ionut.)
