It’s well documented that people are angry today. But why are people so angry? Some say it’s because of television news that plays on the viewer’s emotions, often stirring up anger about a situation so the viewer will keep watching. Others have other reasons for all the anger. The bottom line is that anger is a result of sin and becomes even greater sin according to the way we deal with our anger. Disappointment can turn into sin and sin to greater sin. Anger gets a person into trouble and the consequences are much greater than the original disappointment.
Proverbs 29:22 (ESV) — 22 A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression.
Ephesians 4:26–27 (ESV) — 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.
Ephesians 4:31–32 (ESV) — 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
You can see from the verses above that the Bible speaks of anger, and it is not a very pretty picture. So, let’s go back to what is causing anger. We have a sin nature with which we are born that wants to be in control. Once Eve was seduced in the Garden of Eden by the serpent and her husband gave way to his wife, all of mankind was plunged into the sin of rebelling against God, seeking to be in control of their lives. It’s a foolish way to live, but we are destined to learn the hard way that we are not in control. From the baby throwing a tantrum, to adults expressing road rage, to leaders feeling like they are the ultimate in control. The bottom line is we are not in control, but God is. It’s best to submit to His being in control instead of fighting the principle.
Nevertheless, people get angry when their plans are thwarted and they look for someone to blame so they can vent their anger. Ever see a server in a restaurant getting a good scolding from an irate customer? It’s so easy to feel like you are in a make-believe world where everything turns out like you want it to turn out. That is not reality and God often allows things to stop us so we will recognize He is in control, and we are not.
There was a king in the book of Daniel who needed to learn the lesson. He was warned in a dream that was interpreted by Daniel, but King Nebuchadnezzar in the space of a year fell into the self-defeating trap of feeling like he was in control.
Daniel 4:29–35 (ESV) — 29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” 31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, 32 and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” 33 Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws. 34 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
This desire to be in control shows up in a multitude of ways – not just in anger because you feel out of control, but in bragging on your achievements in such a way that you forget that there is nothing that you have or have achieved that hasn’t been given to you.
1 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV) — 7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
What if God is willing for you to learn the lesson that the King of Babylon had to learn, maybe in a “not so extreme way?” Isn’t that a grace in your life to keep you from going on to greater sin? Instead of anger, maybe a better way to look at trials, disappointments, and setbacks is to consider God’s disposal of His providential care for you for which you can be content.
2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (ESV) — 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Contentment is learned. Charles Spurgeon says of contentment, “It is not a power that may be exercised naturally, but a science to be acquired gradually.”
Philippians 4:10–13 (ESV) — 10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Instead of getting angry, step back and rely upon the super abundant strength and power that is yours in the Lord Jesus Christ to find contentment in the situation. The result is God honoring instead of God dishonoring which enhances our fellowship with the Living God.
Godspeed,
Bob Brubaker, Pastor
Christ Community Presbyterian Church
Clearwater, FL
