Rats in the cellar

[toad]

“Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is. If there are rats in a cellar, you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats; it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way, the suddenness of the provocation does not make me ill-tempered; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am.”
C.S. LEWIS

Words of Jesus found in Luke 6:43-45 NASB, share this with me.

“For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

You want to know what’s in my heart? Just let me stub my toe, mash my finger, let someone do me wrong, or have things go contrary to the way I think they should go. My mouth will amplify like a Marshall Amp what has been put into my heart. I put certain kinds of language and thoughts into my heart years ago, and exercised these words on a regular basis for many years. Even though for the last six and a half that I have been clean and sober, I have had a daily diet of the Word of God, I still find at times one of these rats coming out of the cellar. For me one of the most difficult aspects of changing my behavior through having Christ “In” my life and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, has been changing how I talk. I am not just talking about the use of bad words, but I am talking about how I speak. I find the language that we use as Americans to be some what deceiving. We have a way of using words on a regular basis that we don’t mean. One example is the use of the word die and death. “I’m just dying to do it, it will just kill me if I don’t, and so on. Another example is our use of the word hate and love. We have incorporated them into our daily language when we really don’t mean them at all. Using words that I don’t mean to use goes back a long way in my life, all the way back to when I was a child and first was learning to talk. Today I find the process of retraining myself to be no more than thinking before I speak, and thinking, what would Jesus say? God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…………...........toad

[Lily]

Good post. convicting most definitely!

[Wolftrap40]

I taught courses on C. S. Lewis at a local university for fifteen years. I know that quote from "Mere Christianity" like the back of my hand.

I had a student blow his brains out all over my shirt during class with a .45 magnum.

I drank for five years straight after that. I'm still recovering. Also, you brought up the Marshall Amp, so...I toured with Loosey Caboose for five years all over the midwest as a drummer. I know what you're talking about.

I'm so angry at God I can barely think, day by day. But I'm learning.

[BrokenBridges24]

Wow... Wolf..

That is a horrible shame. I gave birth to a still born baby 14 years ago. I never wanted something so bad in my entire life. I was angry with God. I was so darn angry. Why would he let that happen? How cruel to allow me to carry a child and not allow me to hear him cry. I was a good christian. I lived my life well...why then did this happen to me but hookers can have children? Months past. Emptiness lurked. I wore my grief on my sleeve then...

I had a doctors visit. They sat me down and the doctor said the baby died when the cord kinked. But after the autopsy… the child would not have lived long after birth. Your baby would have needed a heart transplant. Then went on to tell me I would have most likely held my baby in my hands holding him as he slowly died before my eyes…watching him cry the entire time. Wolf... God did not hurt me…he saved me. Saved me from that devastation.

So you know what… Go ahead be mad at God. Hate him. God sure as heck can take it. In fact, some times getting mad is a good thing for you rather than keeping it all pent up inside. Some times just letting go and yelling our heads off can be a good thing. Too many times people let anger fester inside them, building up and growing until it seeks escape in destructive and violent ways. Let off some of that steam Wolf - go outside and yell at God. Sit in your room and tell God what you really think. Pace your living room and give God a piece of your mind. Give God a good talking to. God already knows that you are angry - if not, then God isn't God is he?? Being all-knowing, God is quite familiar with anger don’t ya think? I doubt your anger will not come as a surprise to God. He already knows the source of your anger. He knows the events and experiences that have made you angry. He knows your emotions and feelings. He knows all about your situation. God intimately knows the inner workings of your mind and spirit, and God knows your limitations. We often are angry because we are powerless, and God knows your powerlessness. He knows how powerless you felt when that student killed himself infront of you. He knows...He might surprise you and even share in your anger. The best part is when you are done you can sit down on your bed with God and try to figure something out. For once you can sit down and find a new way to sort it out. And you might be able to do some clear and constructive thinking with God after venting your emotions to him.

God can take it. Who knows you just may feel better after you let lose and God will not be any worse off. I doubt God will stand before you and quiver with fear because you are angry. So go for it. Let us all know how it goes after you are done.

-Broken

[IO Storm]

Know what BB?

I agree with your advice to Wolf...unorthodox as it is may seem to some Christians...

The thing is...God already knows how angry we are..how angry we have been..

and how that anger has turned into bitterness...and what the cause...

And only He can heal it.

No way over it.

No way under it.

Around it.

Get with a good pastor or elder Wolf..or a good friend in Christ...make sure they won't

condemn you..and get it out.

Jesus patiently waits for you...He's waited so long...

[IO Storm]

Romans 8:34

Who is there to condemn them? Christ Jesus died, or rather has risen to life again. He is also at the right hand of God, and is interceding for us.
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Weymouth New Testament

Nuff said.