Ed, my neighbour next door, noticed that I was in a grumpy mood last week. "You'd think with Christmas fast approaching you would be perking up in joy rather than moping around eager to snap and snarl at people," Ed observed.
"It is an ongoing problem. I have a cranky, contentious side that breaks out of me and I have a problem getting it under control, tied up again and out of sight. I have those times I cannot seem to communicate with anyone without causing angry sparks to fly between us. I seem to change into a grumpy old man with way too much ease. Do you have any suggestions for me?" I asked Ed.
"The only way to handle your grumpiness is by keeping your mouth shut until you don't have to deal any longer with the person making you grumpy. Then, use the time tested cure for grumpiness, which is chewing tobacco and spitting it out. Chew and spit, chew and spit, chew and spit until your crankiness disappears and leaves you more patient for the future," Ed instructed me.
I'm not sure about the chewing tobacco cure for my grumpiness, but I won't speak in doubt about a solution I have never tried. What works for one person doesn't always work for another. I do know I'm responsible for dealing with my own issue with grumpiness and contentiousness. Giving reasons for my crankiness isn't a solution. Bottom line is that I'm the only one who can do something about my grumpiness. No one else can control my crankiness for me, except if God would choose to. God does intervene in our lives especially when our moodiness will work against His will and purpose.
I wonder if Joseph was in a grumpy mood when Mary was found to be with child, since the child was not his. The Bible tells us Joseph had in mind to divorce her quietly, not wanting to expose Mary to public disgrace. But an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
Like Joseph, our grumpiness and wrong thinking can get in the way of what God is doing. It was God's plan that "the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel - which means, 'God with us.'"
King Herod, in a cranky fearful mood, gave orders to kill all boys in Bethlehem and vicinity who were two years and under. Thankfully, an angel of the Lord had appeared to Joseph in a dream and instructed Joseph to get up and take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, which he did. They stayed there until King Herod was dead.
The baby conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary was, and is, God with us, to save us from our sins like grumpiness and contentiousness. It is good news to an old man like me who is known to get grumpy with some regularity.
