I asked the Lord to show me what to do. I knew what I wanted to do! I wanted to mail them a copy of those two pages. But what did the Lord want me to do? I fell asleep with that question on my brain. Each time I awoke the same question popped into my head. And each time I just prayed, “God help me! Show me what to do.”
In the morning the scripture reading for the day was about how Jesus was not accepted in his hometown. It added Jesus left there because he could do very few miracles because of their lack of faith. It also spoke of Jesus warning to the disciples that accepting him would sometimes mean family will turn against you. Then I saw the words “left that place” as if it were highlighted. God was clearly telling me to not engage in conversation with this family member. Just walk away. Let God deal with them. God is more then capable of revealing to them anything they need to know about their bad behavior.
I gave this person to Jesus, and immediately felt at peace. The anger was instantly gone! I knew that just walking away was the right decision for me. I had a birthday card I hadn’t mailed this person because of my anger. I pulled out the card, signed it, addressed it, and put it in the mail.
I’ve gone about my day with joy knowing God is in charge. I’m thankful I didn’t go more then one sleepless night dealing with anger and frustration.
I wouldn't say you entirely let it go. I think blog posts can be a form of retribution even if the offending party will not read it. And "walking away" can be a form of the silent treatment. The only reason I say all this is because I have inherited this form of dealing with frustrations. Letting everyone else know that a nameless someone was a jerk to me (and it is not hard to figure out who you are speaking of here) is one form of "blowing-up" at an offending party. I wrote a very heated blog just the other day about someone being a jerk to me and how bad they were, but... and maybe this was a God thing... I had internet access when I started the blog but by the time I was finished and clicked on "publish" the internet had gone out and it wouldn't post. I am still giving the silent treatment to that person, though. It irks me that they behaved badly, didn't say they were sorry, and have now so easily moved on and are acting like nothing ever happened. I guess this is a not-so-good family trait. You and I are not alone in it. Just saying... :)
ReplyDeleteMelody, walking away CAN be a form of the silent treatment. It depends on the attitude of the person doing it. I had two pages of "ammo" ready to send, but I didn't. I choose to give this situation and person to God to deal with. My attitude was correct, and that is reflected in the action I took. How do I know my attitude was correct? I felt peace, and joy, and freedom from anger. There is nothing wrong with giving ourselves space from someone who abuses us. Too many christians don't give themselves that permission! My motive for posting this blog is also a pure one. I wanted to share an alternative to lashing out in anger toward someone who treats us badly. I suppose there are a few individuals in my circle, like you, who will figure out who I am talking about. That's OK because they are aware of this person's temperment issues already. It's all about attitude! Wouldn't you agree?
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