What is that to you?

Recently, I realized I’d been allowing a lot of anger and judgement to build up in my life. I would judge other people, even people I’d never met, for things I normally wouldn’t care about. I would be angry about silly things, even when I knew it was illogical, even when I was fully aware the other person hadn’t done anything wrong. Once I noticed it, I realized I was doing it all the time.

Stopping the Cycle

The best example, of course, is driving. I’d never met the person in front of me. For all I knew, he’d just been let go, and he didn’t want to face his wife, and that’s why he was driving slow. Or maybe his daughter had just been in a wreck, and he was rushing to the hospital, and that’s why he was in a hurry. Or maybe, he was just an ordinary person driving like ordinary people have a right to do, at any speed under the speed limit. He was probably a better driver than I was. Why was I so angry at him for no good reason? Why was I spending so much energy on this? I determined to stop.

I quickly found, though, that it was hopeless. The more I concentrated on forcing myself to do the right thing, the more unruly my thoughts grew, and the more angry and frustrated I became, until the whole cycle started up again worse than ever. I was making myself miserable.

The Empty House

The effort was doomed from the beginning. Of course I couldn’t make myself better. Paul describes this very thing in Romans 7. It just doesn’t work when you try to do it on your own. It takes God. But once again, I had forgotten what I ought to have known.

Jesus tells the story of a house (a person) occupied by a demon. The demon is thrown out, but no one else comes in to occupy the house, so the demon just comes back. That is what happens when we try to throw out the bad things without putting anything in their place, when we try to break free of Satan without embracing God. It doesn’t work. We end up chasing our tails, growing exhausted while getting nowhere.

What is that to you?

I found the solution while reading through the final chapter of John, where Jesus talks to Peter. He starts to tell Peter what God’s will is for him, and Peter interrupts to ask about John’s future. Jesus replies, “What is that to you? You follow me.” After I read that passage, I started hearing those words in my head over and over.

 “Who does he think he –”  What is that to you? You follow me.

“Well, this is great. Now we get to –” What is that to you? You follow me.

“I know so much more about this than she –” What is that to you? You follow me.

“Why does he never have to –” What is that to you? You follow me.

“Hey! A turn signal would be appr –” What is that to you? You follow me.

It didn’t come as a rebuke, but rather, as an invitation. When I was trying to fight the battle on my own, fending off these thoughts had taken enormous effort, but when I turned my focus to Christ, it became instead a source of rest and refreshment. Why should I spend my time being angry when there were so many better things to think of? Why continue to glare down into the darkness when I could instead accept the hand offered and be lifted up into the light?

It is not always so easy. And of course, there are things we should be angry about – even God is angry sometimes. But if you, like me, have trouble with everyday bitterness and anger, and in case you, like me, forget sometimes that you don’t have to do it alone, I hope we can take the time today to gather all our petty prides and resentments into a whining, grumbling litany and cut them off with:

What is that to you? You follow me.

“Cairo Traffic” by VasenkaPhotography is licensed under CC BY 2.0