Coffee With Pat
Written By: Pat Aman
copyright 2006
All rights reserved

I have a dentist appointment at 9:00am. I do not like going to the dentist. Because I was born premature, (I know I made up for it) I had trouble with my teeth from day one. My dentist visits were not good ones. I remember the dentist asking my mama to go out of the room, and he held my nose, to get me to open my mouth. I got mad and bit him. Now I was five years old. The nurse showed my mama how to go through a back door, and she saw him holding my nose. She was one made lady. "She ask him did he have something to put in my mouth to keep it open." His answer was,"yes." Mama let him know he should have used it in the first place, and she told him a few other things also. I remember doing the same thing when Tara had her wisdom teeth pulled. When it was over, Tara told me she could feel everything. She said, she told him she was in pain and feeling everything, and he told her it was just pressure. When it was over he called me back and Tara was crying. When she told me what happen the Cajun rose up in me. He went own to explain it was just pressure not pain she was feeling, she just thought it was pain. I told him she has just went through surgery for Scoliosis, and she had two steel rods put in her back and she knew what pain was. That they had her up and walking the next day. He told me that if she had that surgery she would be in a brace, and would not have been walking the next day. As I was explaining to him she was one of the first patients that they preformed the new surgery on and she did not have to wear a brace, he contradicted me. Now that was twice he told me I did not know what I was talking about. Now here was Tara sitting in his chair and me standing up. The nurse beside him, and a picture window in back of him. Tara said, all of a sudden she saw me jump up and my hand come around in front of her face and she just knew that the dentist was just a fixing to go through that picture window. But I just pointed my figure in his face and told him that he was not going to call me a liar twice in one day. The nurse left the room, she knew he had done wrong and was not sure what I was going to do. I had Tara stand up and show him her fresh scar that went from her neck to her bottom. He was shocked. Then I told him he would never again do another young patient like he did Tara. When she said it hurt, she meant it hurt. She knew what pain was. I went straight to the Children's Orthodontist that sent her to him. He never again got any more business from that Orthodontist. I also did not have to pay the bill, except what my insurance paid. They never sent me a bill. He was just lucky he did not learn how to fly that day. Tara said she never saw me move that fast, but she just knew that dentist was going to be learning to fly, as he went through that window. Now I know what you are saying, Pastor Pat, you did not get mad, did you? Well, yes, I did. You may mess with me, but you better not mess with my younguns'. (Ephesians 4:26-27) "Be angry, and do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil." Actually, Paul here was telling the Ephesians that not all anger is a sin. Justifiable anger is not a sin. But even this justifiable sin should not be carried with you to the next day. Definite wisdom in this direction. Diligently practice honesty and truthfulness in all your relationships. Deal with anger quickly, not allowing it to influence your treatment of others. Religious people sometimes have trouble coming to grips with anger. We’re not really sure if we’re for it or against. Is it really OK for Christians to get angry? After all we’re supposed to be the nice people. "those nice people down at the church." "Be angry but do not sin." Was it okay that I put my finger in that dentist face that day and stood up for myself? Yes, I believe it was, because I would call that Holy Anger. Anger is often our friend, our helper, if we’ll listen to it correctly, and not let it become our Dictator. It can be our guide but not our dictator. Remember though, angry is no excuse for hitting and hurting someone. That type of anger should be dealt with quickly. Yes, even Christians feel anger when we feel threaten, especially when we feel we’re in danger of a physical attack. We feel anger when we feel wronged or violated. We often feel anger when we feel that our goals are being blocked. We usually feel anger when we have been demeaned, devalued, or treated unfairly. We feel angry when we’ve been taking advantage of. So for these and other reasons, you can see why it’s not sin to be angry. There’s nothing unspiritual about being angry when you’ve wronged or taking advantage of. In fact, people who never get angry, who block off this one emotion, are at a disadvantage sometimes. They may be prone to allowing others to take advantage of them time and time again because there’s no anger there to put a stop to it. Anger is self-protecting and therefore helpful if we take it as a warning sign. Paul’s saying, "Allow yourself to get angry, but avoid sinning when you’re angry." "Be angry but do not sin." That day I dealt with anger quickly, and I did apologize for getting angry. But remember when someone does you wrong, God does not mean for His children to be door mats. We have rights also. If I had not grown in the Lord, that dentist would probably been knocked out, or at lest he may have felt he was going through that window. But all I did was stand up for Tara and my rights, and did not let satan continue to call us a liar, because he was working through that doctor that day. Maybe I did not handle it correctly, but how many of us do at times. But just remember that when you do mess up, is when you need to go down on your knees and talk to your Heavenly Father. The next paragraph is from a sermon by: Leonard Ravenhill, he says, " The blessed preacher St. Paul walked down Main Street Athens, the intellectual capital of the world of his day. Acts 17:16 says in the sleepy Elizabethan English of the King James version, "His spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry." The Amplified [1] says it this way, "Now while Paul was awaiting them at Athens, his spirit was grieved and roused to anger as he saw that the city was full of idols." Such anger needs to come back to us today. I admit right here that I am downright angry. I am angry that Christ is wounded in the house of His friends. When are we as Christians going to stand up for our rights." Here Leonard is showing the difference between hatred anger and Holy Anger. Again remember anger is never away to hurt someone. Anger should never be use as and excuse to sin.

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