My wife and I had just left the veterinarian’s office with our cat, Liza Jane, safely tucked in a towel and content in my wife’s arms. Despite the trauma of two shots and a cold table to lie on, she was in purr-mode. I had earlier announced to Denise that I would go across the street to the dry cleaners. As I drove past a car parked near the row of stores, I saw two individuals tussling in the front seat. I thought for a moment they were just having a bit of good-natured fun. I parked right in front of the cleaners, got out, and then saw there was nothing good-natured about this situation. Here was a girl in her 20’s and a woman in her late 50’s-early 60’s havin’ at it! Hay-makers were being thrown, hair was being pulled, profanity was being slurred, and the older woman was prevailing. I walked over and commanded them to stop, or I would call the police. Finally, they ceased their foolishness. I really didn’t count on leaving the vet’s office to see a real live “cat-fight!” Once I had their attention, I began to share the gospel with them, to which the young girl said in an angry, loud voice, “I am a Christian!” which was echoed by the older woman as well. Wow! Really?
This was such a sad scene. I told my wife on our way back to the country, “This is how many, many people across America handle their problems—fighting, arguing, name-calling, and raising their voices at each other.” Sadly this includes husbands, wives, children, family members, co-workers, drivers, football players, etc. My heart breaks to think of what really goes on behind the closed curtained windows of so many homes in our land as well as other places.
Where does this come from? As in every case of life, you have to go to the Word of God for the answer.
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions (James 4:1-3).
Have you ever been in a conflict? Have you ever dealt with unmet expectations? Have you been wronged, mistreated, in a fight, in a marital conflict, in a church misunderstanding, in a shoving match, in a family dispute, had someone cut you off in traffic, etc? I plead with you to take some time and work your way through this linked study seen below. As you dig into the Word and answer the questions, you will see the root of the issue, understand the remedy and see how to make biblical changes through the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God.
Getting To the Heart of Conflict
The heart of every issue is an issue of the heart. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
Searching my own heart, grateful for my sweet wife, and . . . petting Liza Jane.
From A Pastor's Heart 