The coolest thing happened today.

Have you ever read a verse and just knew what God was going to nail you with regarding the passage, making you not want to do the quiet time at all? That was precisely my attitude this morning as I started my quiet time.

Sadly, I admit that I struggle with anger. I am the quickest draw in the west when it comes to pulling a “mad on.” Hear me when I say I am in no way bragging about this. It has gotten me in more trouble and damaged more relationships than I care to recall as well as being a “lesson point” from my heavenly Father since I accepted Christ 28 years ago.

Not good.

So this morning when I opened my Count It All Joy devotional (https://squareup.com/market/
addimedia/item/count-it-all-joy) and saw that James 1:19-21 was the scripture, I immediately groaned. My first thought was to find something else to do, but since Andy was doing his quiet time on the other side of the porch, he would know that I bailed. So, I braced myself for the spiritual booty kicking confident I knew what He was going to say to me.

As I have tried to get into the habit of doing, I asked God to show me what He had for me in these verses, again believing that I already knew the answer, and began reading.

“Understand this, my dear brothers and sister: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.” James 1:19-21

Of course, this is not the first time I have read these verses. When you have a ‘character flaw’ such as a quick temper as I do, God has this way of leading you back to specific verses, not just for you to recognize the need in your life for a change, but to help you achieve it.

I think this morning I more quoted the verses in my head instead of reading them. Then, I “read” them again; honestly read them.

I read the command, “Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
My thought: Yeah, I get that. This is the same thing He has been telling me forever.

But then I read the HOW: “So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.”

My thought: Whoa! When did they put THAT in there?!?

This was what I wrote in my devotional:
SUMMARIZE – Don’t just zip it when I get mad, listen and calm down. Hear what God is telling me at the moment and let Him guide my attitude.
EXPOSE – This is not just about not getting mad, that is a knee-jerk reaction that CAN be slowed, but it’s also about listening to Him, and what I know He is saying, not arguing my point with Him, just letting Him speak to me louder than my emotion!
CHANGE – I need to grow up and recognize my emotions and put them in their place, for they are fickle and cannot be trusted. If I give Him a little space in the midst of it, He will show me what is right and help me swallow it.
PREPARE – This will make my heart so much happier, allow my joy to show, and help me not to be so negative. I don’t have the right to fly off the handle.

(For more info on Summarize, Expose, Change, Prepare see www.readingitright.com)

I found this to be such a sweet lesson, not just about controlling my anger, but about how much God loves me. He KNOWS me, and He knows my heart. He knows that I need Him to help me do what He is asking and He very gently showed me this morning that He has given me what I need. Because I have treasured His word in my heart (Psalm 119:11) He will help me remember it in the midst of frustration or confrontation, thus helping me see the situation for what it is. I can trust Him, even when I’m mad, to diffuse me. This is what it means to humbly accept the word He has planted in my heart.

So the spiritual booty kicking that I was expecting turned out to be a gentle reminder that He knows me (us) loves me (us) and will help me (us) do what He has asked me (us) to do.