Just A Bad Day?

Your dog died.  Your Husband left. Someone stole your car.  Your Wife is cheating. You're STILL single. You need a vacation.  You need a job. Your children aren't perfect.  Your house won't sell. The diagnosis was worse than you thought.  It's raining.  It's cold.  It's hot.  There's no money in the bank.  There's too much money in the bank. He won't call back.  She calls too much and the list goes on and on.  Are you having a bad day? 
Ever found yourself having one of these realities, complaints or....fits?  It wouldn't take long to add an entire page full.  The truth is that we will ALL have troubles in this life.  Regardless of your religious beliefs or whether or not you eat all organic and take yoga three times a week, you will still find that this life brings you troubles.  One of the interesting things is that in the midst of our "troubles" we still have to interact with one another. We shouldn't ignore the reality of life's sorrows & trials, but we also should not let them delegate how we treat others.  Sadly, we often do just that.  Ladies, how often have you dealt with the kids all day, a phone call from your mother in law, work, co-workers that get on your very last nerve, high pitched noises in the background, Husbands texting you wondering what's for dinner, all for it to come to a GREAT BIG HEAD when someone walks through the door??  Gentlemen, how about you?  Ever worked ALL day, received 20 texts from your significant other wondering "what's wrong", walked into a house full of screaming kids and a woman who seems to be just waiting for you to mess up so she can have an excuse to argue with you because of her "bad day"?  You can easily put your own situation in here, these are just examples.  So what happens when you have a bad day and you still have to interact with others?  Ever lashed out at someone in anger when they have done nothing wrong?  I know I have.  Maybe you are more passive aggressive and choose to give the silent treatment and roll your eyes or make sarcastic comments that you KNOW will hurt the other person.  Perhaps you've done that many times and shrug it off to just having had a bad day.  You may even apologize to the person that you hurt and blame it on your "bad day".  Lashing out against an innocent party is not called overreacting.  It's called sin.  Ouch.  We don't want to hear that. These aren't my words, I'm just a messenger.  So if you disagree, like I wanted too, get your Bible out and see what God says about our bad attitudes.  Does that mean that anger, in itself is sin?  Not at all actually.  Remember that Bible we were talking about?  You don't have to look too far into it to see that Jesus himself, showed that very emotion.  What Scripture does say, is for us not to sin in our anger.  Ephesians 4:26 says "In your anger do not sin".  Seems pretty simple, right? Keep reading.  Let's look at verses 29-32, 5:1-2..."Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.  Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."  I don't know about you, but the majority of my life is far from a fragrant offering.  Let's try something together.  The next time you've had a TERRIBLE day and you take it out on someone IN ANY WAY, first....take it to the Cross and confess it.  There is no condemnation in Christ, discipline & love, yes, condemnation, no.  Then, go to the person and tell it like it really is.  Explain, that there is no excuse for how you treated them.  Believe me, I know firsthand, how difficult it is to apologize without following it with an excuse.  But you can do it.  Go humbly before your God, and humble yourself before the other person and admit, that the reason for your lashing out was your own sin in your own heart and then ask for forgiveness.  Dear Precious Reader, it is in these sweet, albeit difficult, moments, that God draws us closer to Himself and molds us, as His clay, into the likeness of His perfect Son.  It is here, that we often find the sweetest  forgiveness and ultimately it pulls us closer to Him and closer to each other.