Epic Battle

Angry people fascinate me.

This wasn't always the case.

For one, they used to get on my nerves....EVEN as I was one! Hello! And consequently, the self-righteous carnal part of me, not-yet-dead, wanted to fix them. (Grinning) I know. I know. The irony is tangible! Don't shake your head at me...(grinning wider)..... if you're honest and NOT walking in head-deep self-deceit, you know as well as I know we ALL had or still have these common threads of broken humanity within us.

Have you ever seen a person remove a hem?  How they have to PULL the old threads out?

Yep. The old threads have to go.

Staying on that theme....have you ever had a pair of pants where part of the hem is falling out, but still hanging in there, and the crease somewhat disguises the falling-out thread.... so you try and get away with putting the pair of pants on....only to have your foot get caught in the hem?

Come on, I KNOW I am not the only person to have experienced this vexing state. In the spirit-realm, this person is wrestling....and usually, wrestling far more with themselves than God would ever wrestle with them!  God doesn't wrestle, dear ones. He doesn't have to. He simply speaks...and it is done. We....WE wrestle.... especially when we don't like what He speaks.

(I know Jacob decided to take God on, but really....is anyone going to take the stand that that was a wise decision worthy of following in his footsteps??  Not I! )

It's not that I don't get angry anymore, but there is a difference between getting angry and being an angry person.

Angry people hurt people, and usually hurt them deeply.

I take no offense at this.... as if my experience should be anything less than what Jesus endured or those believers who came before me.

I do however set up boundaries that clearly delineate what is and what is not acceptable. I'm no one's doormat.... and neither should you be.

What makes this fascinating to me is that IF they be a fellow believer, they know in their spirit their actions are hurting the very people they want so badly to love, but to be an angry person....simply put, means the flesh has the upper hand.  Another way to think about this even more clearly at a root level: angry people have a chronic internal identity crisis.   It's what the Bible refers to as the "double minded man."  He is unstable in all his ways.

There is a fix.... but it isn't a quick fix.... and it isn't pretty.

I recently was conversing about the old tale of the two dogs within each of us.... the spirit dog and the flesh dog.  The one we feed is the strong one.  The weak dog has no choice but to yield to the strong dog.... be it flesh to spirit  or spirit to flesh.... there WILL be a yielding.   And consequently, again, good things are going to come OR bad things are going to come.

I have shared in the past that God, many years ago, took me through what I affectionately call my "opposite season."  Absolutely everything I wanted to do, I was required to do the opposite.  I truly do mean everything.  It was an intense season where God killed my rationalization.

ANYTHING that exalts itself above God's will is an idol.

We rationalize the daylights out of this.

"God doesn't really care if I have ____ to eat."
"God doesn't really care if I go to that movie."
"God doesn't really care if I spend $___ on that."
And on and on it goes.

And the on and on part --- that's where we get into some serious trouble because one "God really doesn't care about ________"  turns into an entire mental stronghold of "God doesn't really care about ______" -- and before we know it.... our flesh dog has completely overtaken our spiritual dog.

Now, I'm not suggesting that you try to impose an "opposite season" upon yourself arbitrarily, BUT if God directs you into one..... a word of wisdom... DO IT!   The freedom on the other side is amazing!

Regardless of the method, we ALL have been called to KILL....

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature....which is idolatry."  Col 3:5

Did you miss that?  Our earthly nature is equated to automatic idolatry.

"For if you live according to the flesh, you WILL die; but if by the Spirit YOU put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." Romans 8:13

Who's doing the killing of the carnal will?  God?  NO!  

You and I don't get off that easy!

WE must do the killing to our earthly nature.... that nature that so easily betrays us...and yields death in and of itself upon us.   

Let me make this clear:  you either kill it.... or it will kill you.

You will never know who you are in Christ feeding both dogs.... even by feeding the flesh dog "mere scraps".

You must resolve to starve the flesh dog UNTO DEATH.

Only then will you be transformed from an angry person to a person who can, if needs be, exercise anger.

Powerful difference!

So, the next time you encounter an angry person.... say a prayer for them. You and I were once them....or perhaps you can still identify with them as them.  They are in a literal mad-identity-crisis of their choosing.

It's the kind of crisis a bystander can not solve, so set boundaries if you must be in relationship with them ...and then stand back..... their wrestling match between the dogs is going to be epic....

Nothing starves unto death voluntarily!

Godspeed!