Would you mind shutting the door?

Hatred. Anger. Sounds familiar? At least it does for me. Tonight I went to Rotterdam with the people from the church because pastor Bohorquez was invited to preach there. He might be small in stature, but I can guarantee you that his sermon has left a big impression upon me. His sermon was all about hatred and anger that people might feel deep inside of them, and while we were driving all the way back, I couldn't stop thinking about it, especially because I felt addressed explicitly by God Himself. But that's not the only reason I want to share this with you. I think this sermon was not only meant for christians, but also for anyone of you who might be reading this, because - you'll have to face it - everyone of us gets confronted with hatred and anger at least once in his/her life.

If you, dear reader, are human, you must have experienced anger and hatred at least once in your life, probably even more than once. But hey, there's nothing wrong with that! At least, it shows that you're human, just like me. What you do with the feelings of hatred is something completely different, though. You can cherish your feelings of hatred, or you can go to the cross, and put them at the feet of Jesus. See what happens then!

Pastor Bohorquez started off with the example of the Dutch guy that shot several people at a shopping mall and who ended up killing himself here in the Netherlands a few years ago. I didn't know that he was in fact a newborn christian, and that he'd left a letter in his room just before going out on a killing spree in which he acknowledged that he was in fact mad at God. And this said, he killed a dozen people and injured even more. Pastor Bohorquez mentioned that this person was in fact driven by his emotions, and even though he was a christian who praised God on a regular base, he did this kind of crazy thing. Each and every one of us can have these feelings of anger and even hatred. But luckily not everyone goes to a shopping mall in order to kill people. However, every person walking on this planet has this kind of feelings, and only a tiny spark is needed in order to make it all explode, to lose control. And this is what happens way too often. People are provoked and hell breaks loose. Literally.

Now you might think that there's nothing you can do about this type of feelings. You might cherish this kind of feelings because someone has really hurt you or because terrible things have happened in your life. It might seem that life or some specific persons have hurt you and let you down. When I think about myself, I have  to acknowledge that some things have happened in my life that were very unfair, like when they locked me up and strapped me to the bed in the Belgian psychiatric hospitals. I still feel very sad about what happened to me over there, and I can still not cope with all that crap. For a very long time I felt the deepest kind of hatred towards one psychiatrist, I even sent her an e-mail in which I told her - anonymously, with another e-mail address - that I hated her from the bottom of my heart. However, when I talk about hatred, I don't have to look back that far. I've also felt anger, frustration and even hatred with a few people close to me, because of their behaviour, because of their way of acting towards me. Now, is there something that can be done about it? In fact, there is!

You could hurt or maybe even kill the people that have caused you pain and let you suffer, or you could talk about it to God. You could say a prayer for the people that have hurt you. That's what pastor Bohorquez told us today during his sermon. Because, if you allow that a tiny spark provokes the feelings of hatred, the devil sees this huge opportunity and exploits it. It's as if you were, at birth, wired with God's computer via an USB cable. Via this cable, God sends you his never-ending love, so you know that He cares about you. However, somewhere in life you can choose to plug your cable in the computer of the devil, and break the link with God's computer. That will only cause you harm, as the devil uses this opportunity to send you his lies and to provoke you, because let's face it, all he wants is that you do things that cause pain and suffering to our Creator. So there is only one way to cope with feelings of hatred: let it go, and allow God to help you with this task.

Pastor Bohorquez compared it also in the following way: when you enter a building, say a bank, during winter, then there are usually two automatic doors. When you want to enter the building, the first door opens, and there is a message on the second door that says that you'll have to wait until the first door closes before you can enter the second door. Once the first door is closed, the second one automatically opens. In life it's exactly like that. First, you have to let go your feelings of hatred before the door to heaven opens. What's more, sometimes the first door won't close, for example because other people also enter, and consequently the second door won't open. And then people get frustrated, because all you want to do is enter the building, or, in our case, heaven or at least a life with God. As a christian, not only other people will want to enter together with you, but also the devil. Then it's your duty to chase him away and tell God that you won't accept this type of feelings and thoughts. So, when feelings of hatred somehow arise in your life, just ask the devil this: Would you mind shutting the door? Only then can you avoid the devil from entering in your life. Close the door, so you can let go those awful feelings of hatred. Remember, only one sentence: Would you mind shutting the door? Very politely of course, because you're well educated, aren't you? ;)