Give It to the Lord

I Thessalonians 3 tells about how Paul longed to return to the people of Thessalonica. He was afraid that they had been tempted and fallen away from their faith and serving the Lord, making his efforts "useless" (verse 5). Have you ever felt that what you were doing was useless because you weren't getting the results you wanted? Some Christians get discouraged when it seems their prayers aren't being answered. They think it is useless to continue praying. Paul sent Timothy to see how the Thessalonians were doing, and he was thrilled when he received Timothy's report. It made him pray even more for them and increased his desire to see them again. If you are struggling with the feeling that your prayers are useless because they aren't being answered or you are trying to win someone to the Lord and are frustrated that they aren't changing, give it all to God and leave it in His hands. Continue praying and doing what you can, but have faith that God is at work.

Ephesians 4:26-27 says "In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." This verse made me see that we are human and we will get angry, but we need to be careful how we react when we get angry. We should not sin because we are angry. We need to watch what we say and how we say it. We should not let the sun go down while we are still angry. We need to do everything we can to resolve the problem before we go to bed. That may mean staying up way past the time you normally go to bed in order to work through the problem. Sometimes it may not be possible to solve the problem, but you need to do everything you can to not go to bed while you are still angry. When you remain angry, it gives the devil a foothold. He wants us to hold onto our anger because that will lead to resentment, bitterness, and hatred. We need to make sure we get rid of that anger as quickly as possible. Sometimes all you can do is give it to the Lord and let Him work in your heart and in the heart of the other person, but you need to be willing to forgive that person and trust that God will heal the hurt. Don't hold onto your hurt and anger. Let it go, and God will do the rest.