Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart[a] of fools. Ecclesiastes 7:9
Giants We are in a war. Just like David with Goliath, we have giants attacking us on all fronts every day. They are out to get us at all costs and they are ferocious, relentless, and seem to be an insurmountable challenge to defeat. They are bent on defeating us first. Some common giants are addiction, anger, anxiety, depression, fear, rejection, and even comfort. We cannot fight these giants in our own power, but our heavenly Father is a giant slayer. He desires for us to be free from our giants and in His power, we can be free.
The Giant of AngerAnger has probably destroyed almost as many lives as addiction. Not all anger is wrong, but a little seed of anger can quickly grow in the giant of uncontrolled anger before we know it. What is a little seed of anger? Something that might make us angry and instead of dealing with it in the right way, we harbor it. We harbor it deep inside and it grows. It doesn’t go away.
Unjustified Anger– anger that we feel about something that never even happened. Maybe it is something you thought someone said or did, but they didn’t really do it at all. Although the deed is imagined, the anger you feel is very real.
Wrongly Expressed Anger– Sometimes we may handle anger in a way that is all wrong. There is a right way and a wrong way to express ourselves. Even if we have something to be genuinely angry about, if it is expressed in a way that hurts others, that’s the wrong way. Sometimes we may snap and react to something that happens to us in anger. This kind of explosive reaction in anger is destructive, not just to those we are angry with, but also to ourselves. In our anger, we can even damage relationships for life.
Justified Anger Never Expressed– When we stuff our anger and never deal with it, we are not dealing with the truth of our feelings. Repressing anything will take a toll on us – physically and emotionally. Hiding our feelings from the rest of the world is pretending to be someone we are not – all the time. And always pretending we are fine when we are not is exhausting and takes a toll.
If someone has wronged you, pray about it before you do anything. This is hard and takes intentionality. There is real value in the “timeout” method. Step back, take ten deep breaths, think about it – but whatever you do, turn it over to God because like the other giants in your life, God has already defeated this one too. Allow Him control over the feelings you are having. Let Him be your avenger instead of throwing gas on a flaming inferno. He is bigger than anything that has happened to us. He can heal our hurts and put out the fires of anger. Then there is grace. Grace. We have been shown unmeasurable grace from our Heavenly Father. I would not want the wrath I deserve from God and that grace is a vivid reminder that we are to give grace as we have been given. That doesn’t mean overlooking everything. That means controlling our responses, letting God have control of our lives and forgiving when we should.
Releasing our anger to God and giving grace and forgiveness when we have been wronged will free us. Unresolved anger turns to bitterness and can choke us out of abundant life. We have to get the focus off of them, and ourselves, and back to God where it belongs.
