Autumn Leaves
Autumn, it’s my favourite season! I love seeing leaves on the trees changing from vibrant greens to rustic yellows, oranges, and reds. It’s a magnificent autumnal picture along the country lanes around our town.
Our neighbours across the street have a large tree in their front garden. To be honest I don’t know what kind it is, but it has large leaves that all seem to fall off within a few weeks, this time of the year.
Whenever we get a strong wind, the leaves somehow end up on our drive and not theirs! They pile up right where people walk to our front door.
Each weekend I go out with my trusty broom and sweep the fallen leaves and place them in my green sack. About half of them have come off, so a few more weeks and we should be done! Doing this regularly is manageable and stops any leaves from being brought into the house.
Whilst collecting up the leaves recently, I was reminded of something that the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Christians in Ephesus…
“In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry…”
Here, Paul was instructing the people how they should live as Christians, and in particular ‘anger management’!
His Godly instructions were not to let anger build up over time, but instead, to deal with it quickly, i.e. before you go to bed! Anger is not bad, as it can lead to positive actions.
We can be angry about lots of things, such as, injustice, poverty, war, or climate change. That anger is a strong feeling that can lead to doing something positive about it. That’s good, as long as any action is done in the right way.
However, we can get angry about all sorts of things done, or not done, to us in life. This kind of anger, if left undealt with, can fester leaving the individual worse off.
It can cause negative feelings to arise, which may lead to saying or doing the wrong thing. I think this is what Paul is referring to in his letter.
In other words, Paul encourages people to, ‘keep short accounts’. We will all get annoyed and frustrated with people, it’s human nature and, remember, none of us are perfect!
The key is to deal with the anger quickly. Keep a short account, and so not allow it to build or grow internally.
If this is you, then here’s what you can do:
If you can, go to the person who has angered you.
Talk it through, forgive them and restore the relationship.
Pray for God’s help and move on.
If I did not sweep up those leaves each week they would build up on our drive. But I deal with them quickly. Do the same in relationships, deal with things ‘before the sun goes down’.
God bless
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader