Quiet Your Heart
The people walking in darkness have
seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has
dawned. – Isaiah 9:2
He was angry. He was upset with the media and the Democrats.
He wasn’t too happy with folks in his own political party either. He ranted about
opinions and stupidity and how upset his Mama got when she watched the news.
I tried to turn the conversation to a different topic.
He kept bringing it back. It’s as though he just needed to be angry at
something. I wasn’t sure it was really about what others were doing or not
doing. It was just a way to avoid dealing with his own unhappiness.
I recognized his pain. He’s buried too many people who
were far too young to die. How do you explain the death of two young children
and their mom in a freak traffic accident? How do you understand the death of a
spouse with no warning, no symptoms, no indication that she would never wake up?
We can’t get angry with God. Oh, we might somewhere
deep inside. It just seems so unfair even though we know life is often unfair.
But we cling desperately to the hope that one day we’ll see them all again. We
don’t want to do anything to change that. So, no, we don’t want to be angry
with God. We’re secretly afraid He might turn us away and then where would we
be?
And we don’t want to wear our sorrow outside for all
to see. Shouldn’t we be over it by now? Shouldn’t we have moved on, come to
terms with what happened, adjusted somehow? Except those reactions are a fantasy
conjured up by someone who couldn’t face the reality of loss.
The truth is life hurts. The pain is unbearable
sometimes. The loss that surrounds us reminds us again and again that we aren’t
in control. We can’t fix the broken. We can’t heal the sick. We can’t change the
circumstances of today.
So we get angry at the world. We focus on something
else. We lash out in an effort to somehow feel better inside. It doesn’t work.
The anger doesn’t erase our unhappiness.
Our world is covered in darkness. Unhappiness is the new
normal. We are never satisfied, never content, never joyful. We point fingers,
spew angry words, blame everyone but ourselves. We are searching for what we
already have but we can’t seem to find our way. Because we’re looking in the wrong
direction.
I’m not talking about those who don’t know Jesus.
Sure. There are plenty of those and we must try and reach them all. But the
saddest people are those who do know our Savior and still find themselves
consumed with anger.
Why? Because we’re so focused on the circumstances of
today that we’ve lost the light. We are surrounded by darkness and we can’t
seem to find our way out. We’re trying to save ourselves when that’s never
going to be possible. We are floundering in the boat while Jesus says again and
again, “Peace! Be still!” (Mark 4:39)
Give your anger to Him. Give Jesus your despair. Give
Him your hurt. Stop trying to wrestle alone with what you cannot understand.
Give it all to Jesus. Let Him fill you up with His peace.
We were never made for this world. Look toward the
light. Jesus will guide you. Quiet your heart and focus on Him. It might not
change your circumstances but it will still your anguish. It will remove your
anger. Jesus will fill you up with hope and endurance and strength for the journey.
Take a deep breath. Be still.
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