The windscreen wiper  By Author Anbu

I like the following story,

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper.


His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.


The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down.


He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.


Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.


The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.


He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one."

 
This story is a good reminder but how can we solve this anger problem

We can handle this anger biblically by communicating to solve the problem.

let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires.

God allows righteous anger and also anger is an emotion which help us to focus on the problem rather than the person. Anger itself is not sin but we sin when we are angry.


 There are four basic rules of communication shared in Ephesians 4:15, 25-32:


1) Be honest and speak .Ephesians 4:15, 25.
    We must speak the truth in love.it's not possible to read minds.



2) Stay current ,Ephesians 4:26-27.
   We must not allow what is bothering us to build up until we lose control. Dealing with and sharing what is bothering us before it gets to that point is important. do not give the devil a  foothold"-don't make it any easier on him



3) Attack the problem, not the person ,Ephesians 4:29, 31.
   Along this line, we must remember the importance of keeping the volume of our voices low.
  A kind answer soothes angry feelings, but harsh words stir them up-Proverbs 15:1



4) Act, not react , Ephesians 4:31-32. Because of our fallen nature, our first impulse is often a sinful one (v. 31). The time spent in “counting to ten” should be used to reflect upon the godly way to respond (v. 32) and to remind ourselves how anger is to be used to solve problems and not create bigger ones.


Lastly, we must act to solve our part of the problem  Acts 12:18.


I was angry oneday with my wife we exchanged few words,which did not go well at the early part of our day,then I left to work without any peace in my heart(I am only human) and during lunch time I went and parked my car in front of a beach instead of going home for lunch as normaly I would have done, Just to calm myself by looking at sea waves.It was a cloudy day I could see clearly sea waves crashing into the beach non stop through my clear windscreen glass.At the same time drizzling rain drops falling on my windscreen and after a few minutes my vision blurred and Obscured.
I could not see the sea waves clearly as I was watching before because the running  water created by the drizzling rain on a windscreen blurred my vision.

I paused for a moment and turned on the "Windscreen wiper" there again I could see the sea waves clearly.what a difference ! it was a gentle reminder from The Holysprit that to be focused and see clearly  specially when I am angry I do require "Windscreen wiper" and that's nothing but "God's Living word" that clears the fog or blurred vision created by anger.

Run to the Word of God,Where your anger will not lead to sin.

I cannot control how others act or respond, but I can make the changes that need to be made on my part.

"Peace it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise,trouble or hardwork it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart "