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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Red (10/01/09)
Am I familiar with Red? The answer is, of course I am. I have been seeing Red on and off for the last 38 years of my life. Red slowly became a tolerated nuisance I learned to deal with, although, not actually enjoy. In fact, since I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior, Red has become an enormous, but welcome thorn in my side. As a new creature in Christ, I thought that it would be easy to control when I see Red, but that is not the case. Although I do actually see Red less than before, the fact that I see Red at all bothers me. Red, better known as my anger, still comes upon me like a bolt of lightning. One minute I am fine; the next I am in a rage and fighting myself about trying to calm down. Why do I get so angry? I don’t know, but my theory is that by making me lose my temper so much, Satan is trying to make me do something that causes me to lose sight of my faith. Fat chance of that! When I get that worked up, I turn to prayer, asking forgiveness for losing my temper and help to calm down. Even though I may not relax immediately, just like every promise God has made, I do receive the help I ask for, in His time. Would I prefer to not lose my temper? Absolutely, but then I remind myself that if I didn’t have something to keep me humble and needing His help, I may just fall for Satan’s games after all. To me, my anger is a small price to pay to have a reason, with no excuses, to come to our Father and seek just a little of his attention – the same type of attention I myself appreciate being able to give my own son.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Genuine Suede
10/08/09
Your story is very well written but I felt the ending was a cop-out. Sorry. If you're interested, I've discovered
the best time to stop a temper is before it gets started... which is also the best time to enlist God's intervention. Once anger takes hold, it's a downward spiral. I know. I struggled with the same problem for many years before finding the answer. Now my days are mostly peaceful instead of full of constant upheaval. Stop giving yourself permission to get angry. Give it to the Lord instead. Let it be His problem to deal with. Satan will lose interest in playing games with you once he realized you'll let God take your place in the battle.
Genuine Suede
10/08/09
PS. I also had wanted to say that I thought you should not capitalize Red but write it as simply red. Just as the color red is red, not Red.
c clemons
10/08/09
Interesting. Just heard this yesterday, "God is love, when we extend patience towards others it is love, impatience is arrogance." So, anger usually follows impatience. Next time before getting impatient and angry, remember how patient God was with you. Keep writing.
c clemons
10/08/09
Yes I agree with the previous poster. To capitalize would indicate a proper name. Why would you give a color that much power?
Charles Eldredge
10/08/09
Thank you both for the feedback. You are both right, once the emotion becomes anger, the situation has gone too far. I am working on that, slowly but surely.

As for writing Red vice red, I did that intentionally because of my intimacy with seeing red, also because it is another nickname for Satan, the cause of anger. I didn't think about the power the capitalization gave, but I will definitely keep that in mind.

Thanks again!
Mark Bell
10/09/09
Interesting personification of your struggle by capitalizing "Red". Personally, I thought it was appropriate. Nice straightforward confession of a personal problem, too. Many have problems with that. The thing about anger is it always reveals something inside our hearts. It should drive us to God, give Him ownership and let Him do His work of healing, so we can walk free.
Joshua Janoski
10/10/09
This had a nice devotional feel to it.

It makes sense to me why you capitalized the word red. You were trying to convey that your anger felt almost like another person provoking you and prodding you to lose your cool and lash out.

I appreciate you being so open and honest with your struggles. Mnay people are afraid to share these things because of possible judgement they may receive from others. I feel it is best to let people see our flaws so that not only can we become better servants of Christ, but also so that we can reach others who struggle with the same things.

Keep writing. I look forward to reading more of your stuff.
Jan Ackerson 
10/11/09
I like the personification of "Red."

A note: it's best not to respond to your commenters until the judging is complete (usually Sunday or Monday). Judges don't generally read the comments, but if they should happen upon your answer, your piece is no longer anonymous.

This is a very good piece of writing, and I hope to read more--and longer!--entries from you in the future. Thanks for submitting!