By Jeanni Ritchie
I was not happy.
It seemed like righteous anger—I was certainly not in the wrong—but I knew if I didn’t pull myself together quickly, I would be.
Be angry, and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:26-27
I’d been on a travel assignment, relying on a rideshare to drop me off at my destination. Only—unbeknownst to me—he dropped me off a half-mile away. In the pouring rain.
Lyft was no help. I was too close to order another ride. Too far to walk in the storm. Even chatting with a live person got me nowhere. I was stuck in a strange town, and I was seeing red.
Eventually, I stopped fighting the situation long enough to realize something important: I was safe. Wet, frustrated, inconvenienced? Absolutely. But safe.
So I started walking.
Along the way, I stumbled upon an authentic Italian restaurant glowing against the gray sky and stopped for an incredible meal. By the time I reached my hotel later that evening, the storm outside had settled—and so had the one inside me.
Lyft had been wrong. What happened could have been dangerous. But replaying the offense over and over wasn’t protecting me anymore. It was only pulling me closer to crossing the line between anger and sin.
Sometimes “seeing red” has nothing to do with rage and everything to do with redemption. The enemy wants us to see red through the lens of offense, outrage, and wounded pride. But believers have another red to focus on: the blood of Jesus that covers us, calms us, convicts us, and calls us higher.
There will always be moments that tempt us to react in the flesh. Moments where we are justified in our anger. But not every justified feeling deserves unchecked expression. Sometimes spiritual maturity looks like taking a deep breath, choosing peace, and refusing to give the devil a foothold in a situation he didn’t create but would gladly escalate.
Sometimes the holiest thing we can do is pause long enough to let the Lord calm us before we react. Not every frustrating moment requires retaliation. Not every offense deserves residence in our hearts. The next time you find yourself seeing red, remember: one red leads to destruction, but the other leads to grace.
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