Reactions

There is an old middle-eastern proverb I once read; “When you throw a stone in the middle of a pack of dogs; the one who yells the loudest is the one the stone hit.” I didn’t think preaching on Mother’s Day would get a strong verbal reaction but one point did.

Yesterday was my first Mother’s Day sermon. I know that not all moms look forward to this day for different reasons so I wanted the sermon to be an encouragement. The title was “A Mother’s Day Card From God” where I read Proverbs 31:10-31 because to me this is an ideal Mother’s Day card. For those women who struggle with this day, I brought up the point that the Bible is God’s Mother’s Day card to all mothers. In this card, there is a message for everything they face and feel. I highlighted just six points. They were Discouragement, Needing Help, Loneliness, Tiredness, Worrying, and the final point was on Anger.

Anger was actually the second point I bought up. I used Ephesians 4:26; 31-32 and Proverbs 15:1. I used an illustration from Billy Sunday;

“Billy Sunday tells a story about a lady once came to him and tried to rationalize her angry outbursts. “There’s nothing wrong with losing my temper," she said. "I blow up, and then it's all over."
"So does a shotgun," Sunday replied, "and look at the damage it leaves behind!’”

I thought that all was just like the first point until I said that words can destroy so we all need to use anger as a tool and not as a weapon. I heard something in the crowd; almost like someone being elbowed. After the service, a man came up to me and said that his wife needed the sermon because she struggles with anger. He said with a smile.

You never know who needs what but the Holy Spirit does. I pray that this lady will do some self-examining and try to work on this.