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Bailey left her nice little and her cat to help her missionary friend, Donna. She lived in some little rooms behind Donna’s house and went into the house every day and worked in the office.
Donna had a cat too – a very highly strung cat. The cat was lonesome and missed the presence of Donna when she went into the interior. Baily fed, patted its head and talked to it. The cat got used to having Bailey’s company and resented it when she left for the night. Eventually the cat started attacking her when she left the house. Every day the cat bit Bailey on the same spot on her ankle.
Bailey’s ankle got still and her whole leg hurt, so she went to the doctor. The doctor insisted on knowing how Baily got the bites. He said the law made it clear that any bite must be reported. Bailey explained the cat was house bound and couldn’t have rabies. She begged him not to report it, but he wouldn’t listen and the animal control officer was soon in control.
Donna returned home just in time to turn her cat over to the authorities. She was told her cat would either have to go to the animal shelter or spend the next four days at the veterinary clinic. O course she wouldn’t have had to send it to the vet if it had its shots, but Donna hadn’t got its shots so she had to board it for the next four days. The whole thing made her very angry.
Donna met Bailey when she returned to the house. Tears of anger marred her pretty face and her voice shook when she spoke. Baily knew she would be upset when the authorities approached her, but of course she wasn’t aware the cat didn’t have its shots, so Donna’s intense anger was a shock. “…and I’ll probably have to pay your doctor bill too, and what for? Just because your leg hurts. That cat is all I have! I can’t stand the sight of you.”
So instead of going to her afternoon college class, Bailey called her pastor and his wife and spent the rest of the day loading everything she owned into her pickup.
Later, parked in her pickup out at the campground where she would make her home for the next six months, Baily smiled. “Well, Lord, I got the desire of my heart. I’m living in the country. Thank you.”
“As a means of venting her anger, donna wrote and told her supporters what an awful thing Bailey had done to her. Then she had an attack of depression that resulted in some really bad decisions.
Another person’s thoughtless words and actions put our God-given defense system into action. It pumps excessive amounts of chemicals into our bloodstream to help in answer to alarm and agitation. Without constructive action our memory broods in an endless cycle. The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
God’s remedy for anger liberates us from the destructive results of a brooding memory. We can stop fretting because of the evil that mankind does. God promises that those who commit unjust acts shall be cut down and wither away.
The wonderful liberating truth is that God is keeping the records and we can trust him to take our burden on him. He will reveal righteousness and justice a bright as the light at noonday. We are free from the responsibility of righting the wrong, punishing the guilty, proving the truth of a personal injustice, or defending our honor. We can dwell in the circumstances God places us in and cultivate faithfulness. What a delightful Lord we have!
