The Unclaimed Gift: Controlling Your Self Control

2 Peter 1:5-8 “…make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with Godliness, and Godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

I don’t know about you but there are some days when I wake up and its all downhill from there. Before I can even sit down for coffee, half a dozen things have gone wrong. I forgot to set my alarm and missed an appointment. Silly dog chewed up my favorite spatula. (How she got it I still don’t know. I suspect one of the grandbabies.) I broke a nail. (hey..it’s my pity party)

I have to rush through my devotion because I need to take my son to work. On the way out the door I realize the new puppy has pee’d on the floor….again. I have to go back into the house for my purse, then my phone, then for the list of things I need to accomplish while I am out.

I find myself getting angry at every turn. I snap at my grown son who did not eat any breakfast and says he’s hungry. I tell a friend “no” when she really needed an hour of my time. I ignore a phone call from a child because I don’t want to deal with another crisis. The guilt builds and builds and builds.

Have you ever been so out of balance in your day that the only answer seems to be that it would all get better if you could just jerk a knot in someone’s head? (a southern term…don’t take it literally) Have a few minor things turned into a major melt down that leaves you breathless with anger? Have you even ranted at God about how unfair it is that you are being punished for everyone else’s inconsiderate behavior?

If so, you are in good company. Even Christ, as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, became upset at the lack of support from His most favored disciples. His very best friends were unwilling to stand and pray with Him. When I think of how upset I get when someone I love lets me down, I can only imagine His level of disappointment.

In Mark 14:32-41 we have a window into the fact that Christ experienced moments when He begged His Father to take away everything that was set before Him. We get to see that He snapped at the disciples when He found them sleeping. It is easy for me to imagine the look on His face when He asked them “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour?” How many times have I had that look when someone has disappointed me?

Because we are made in His image, we are going to have moments when we get frustrated or hurt or angry or just plain mad. God did. The Bible is full of times when He just got fed up with the behavior of His children. Sometimes He got downright mad. A few times, He cleared the building! But always He showed mercy. Always He showed grace. And always He forgave.

Dearest Abba, Here I am again. Your misbehaving daughter. I am sure you are wondering how a grown woman could throw such a tantrum as this. But then again, perhaps You aren’t wondering. For You have known me since before I was formed. You have given me life and breathe and love beyond imagination. You have guided my life, wiped away my tears, and covered me with Your healing power. This week, more than any other time, I am acutely aware of the sacrifices You have made for me. You give me sight when I can’t see, hearing when I am deaf to Your whispers, and forgiveness when I can’t pray with You for even one hour. Thank You Father for all You do. Let the words of Your Son ring loudly in my ears as I come to my knees once again. “There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent” Luke 24:47 Let our minds be full of only Your desires as we walk this walk that is before us. In the name of Your Most Holy Son, who gave His life to take away our sins, Christ Jesus, Amen

scripture from NIV Bible