Did you know that scriptures like the one above are actually supposed to be acted on? We are supposed to learn from them and apply them to our situations.
So how come I didn't?
I got caught up in my own supposedly righteous anger toward the BIG BANK, felt justified in sending out a polite but very angry email.....
What a dunce I am!
This is what happened: my husband stopped at the ATM at our bank in Pierre to get cash out for my teens who are going on a retreat today. The ATM said to him YOU HAVE NO MONEY. I WILL GIVE YOU MONEY BUT YOU CHARGE YOU FOR IT (well, it didn't talk but you get the gist....). Shannon was on the phone with me when this happened. I said, "We have money. I know we do."
I checked on and I WAS RIGHT! THE BANK, THE BANK, THE BANK WAS ATTACKING US, TAKING OUR MONEY, INVADING OUR LIVES, THE BANK IS A ROTTEN FILTHY ENEMY WHO IS OUT TO GET ME!
That is what I was feeling so I sent out an email saying how wrong the bank was, how it was preying upon people like us who were just trying to live.
What really happened? An ATM malfunction. I found this out when I talked to a bank employee after I sent that email. She was very nice and even tried to figure out how we could get cash last night.
I was thankful for her kindness, but i still didn't feel particularly bad about the email I sent. My feelings toward the BIG BANK hadn't changed . . . until early this morning around 4 a.m.
A real person had to read my email. A real person who had nothing to do with the ATM malfunction had to read those angry words. Man, I will say it again. What a dunce I was.
So, I ask God please bless that person who had to read my anger. AND I already sent an email apologizing though I don't know who will read that one. I have sent a few angry emails to the bank. Just because it is an institution is no excuse. Always there are people involved. And the people who read the emails from people like me I am pretty sure aren't the people making decisions. They are probably just like me -- trying to take care of their families, trying to do good in their communities, trying to live this life as best they can.
I (all of us really) need to remember we aren't fighting people. We are fighting the spiritual enemy and his minions (love that word). So, I will not send out any angry emails anymore.....if I do I will probably wake up again in the middle of the night and have to dwell on what I did and do my best to make amends. And I don't like waking up in the middle of the night because it is so hard to get back to sleep.
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12