When anger takes up residence...Ephesians 4:26-27

When anger takes up residence... Ephesians 4:26-27

Patricia Ann 10/22/2022

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.

Ephesians 4:26-27

When anger takes up residence in the heart of a man, there can be no peace within his soul.  

Have you ever encountered an angry person?  

Have you ever lived with an angry person?

I expect that everyone has encountered anger or had anger at some time in their life, but what happens if that little seed of anger grows?

Just as we have seen weeds suddenly overtake a freshly planted flower garden or choke out the fresh vegetables that we planted to nourish our bodies, anger also takes root and can grow and grow very quickly and even spread until the anger has choked out any happiness or joy that a person once had. 

As a single weed can eventually overtake a whole garden, one angry person in  a family can wreak havoc and cause strife in the entire family.  We often see this at home, in work places and in church families, too. 

It surely saddens the heart of our Father in Heaven, as He is aware of every aspect of our lives.  He knows our every heartbeat, our every decision, our laughter and our tears.  

Our Father knows us intimately... and He does not like it when we experience anger.

An angry heart is a result of sinfulness and that can only result in opening a door to evil results with quarrels, fighting and often murder.  And murder doesn't have to be just physical.  Murder can take place with words spoken in anger...with rage.  God's word tells us the tongue is like a double-edged sword...bringing forth both life and death. 

I know an elderly couple.  They have been married for over 60 years, so both are 80+ years old.   We would like to believe that after being married for 6 decades their final years would be filled with kindness and great love for one another.  However, this couple is not living in the joy of the Lord in marriage or even friendship.  They live in anger and resentment toward each other, manifesting in torment for her, as he demeans her for how she looks now.  He talks about her in front of her to other people and tells them she is unwell.  I watched as he told her a few years ago that they haven't really been married for years. And when he told her he was taking over their assets... he did.  Now, she sits in anger and depression, feeling alone. All that all she worked for (alongside her husband) their entire life together has come to this end. She has nothing in her name.  She feels her house is no longer her home, as it was taken from her with a forcible manipulation.  And...she sits and cries.  She cries and says "I never thought he would treat me this way." 

Her husband is angry. She is angry.   And...When anger takes up residence in the heart of a man, there can be no peace within his soul.  This marriage relationship that should have been a beautiful union in the presence of our Lord has  ceased to be.  Ultimately, at some point, anger and sin allowed the devil to get a stronghold that has never been broken.  Instead, their union broke and for this, their final years...they live in the same house together, but in anger, separation and torment.  

God has words for how a husband should treat his wife,  since he is the stronger of the two...he is her safe place, her provider, her lover.  She is his helpmeet...as per God's design, when He is allowed to be in the marriage...it will be beautiful, according to His plan for man and wife.   

Man and wife for life, no strife!  God in the center...devil, do not enter! 

A beautiful marriage is like flowers in God's garden, a small bouquet that grows with the seasons, as more beautiful flowers grow from the seeds that the flowers produce.  A flower garden planted in good soil... God's soil will continue to produce more beautiful and fragrant flowers.

But, flowers sowed on barren ground have little chance of taking root and if they do, they soon wither and die from a lack of sustaining nutrients unlike the flowers that were planted in good soil that produce beautiful blooms. 

God soil vs. ungodly soil.  Nurture vs. barren.  Life vs. death.

Everywhere we look,  we can see the difference that living a Godly life brings...

In His word, our Father gives us many scriptures about anger. 

He acknowledges that we will experience anger and He tells us to not sin in that anger.  

He also tells us to not let the sun go down on your anger... do not end our day with anger in our heart. 

He tells us to not give the devil an opportunity because given the opportunity, the devil will storm right into our lives and bring every kind of strife that he can.  

And when that happens...?

When the devil storms in... we find ourselves in the middle of a big mess... just like the garden overgrown

with weeds that is like a big mess, too.

How do we fix the mess?  

A garden has to have a gardener, someone willing and able to go in to the garden with a hoe and dig the weeds out at the root.  Then, the garden has to be tended to daily,  with any new weeds being uprooted quickly.  Some people put a fence around their garden to keep rodents and other small animals out.  Sometimes, we see bright silver tin foil plates on wooden sticks to keep the birds from snipping of the plant tops.  

By doing this, the gardener assures that his garden will grow and flourish until harvest time and show forth a good crop of healthy produce. 

We are blessed to have our Father in Heaven who looks out for us when we are in a big mess!

It is true.  God is our gardener and He is more than willing to step right into our big mess and tend to our garden of problems. 

When anger takes up residence in the heart of a man, there can be no peace within his soul. 

But, when we allow God to be our gardener and allow Him access to our heart, He will turn our situation around.  When we put ourselves faithfully into His Hands, He will faithfully and lovingly pull out those roots of anger and replace them with His own goodness and love. Strivings will cease.  Family relationships will be restored and we, like the plants in garden, will grow and flourish until harvest time and show forth a good crop of healthy produce.

Perhaps, the elderly couple mentioned above will forgive one anther and invite God back into their relationship, in the right order with God, as the Master gardener, and each of them as a beautiful flower standing together in God's bouquet.   There is always hope for a better tomorrow and it is ever too late to pray and repent, to turn from death to life and to use our tongue for lifting up our loved ones, sharing the love of Jesus.  As we also cry tears with those who are mourning what should have been, may we speak words of our Father about restoration and life that is still to be lived beautifully in His garden of refreshing love!

And...for men and women who are abandoned in marriages by angry spouses, may we be lifted up in the knowledge that we truly are the Bride of Christ first!  Our relationship with Himself is sacred and pure...free from anger.  But as sin and anger are allowed in, our relationship with man is not sacred.  We are free to be free in a relationship with Himself....and what matters the most...is the love of the One who loves us the Most!

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.

Ephesians 4:26-27

My prayer for today is simply this...may we all pray and kick the anger out of our lives, for ourselves, our families and those we are yet to meet. In this, we are free to attain the much needed peace to our soul...

Love and blessings to all in Jesus precious Name. Amen.

When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, He said, “This, then is how you should pray:
The Lord's Prayer.  It speaks to our heart...from His very own Heart.
‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory.
Amen” 
Matthew 6:9-13