Impossible you might say! Only a perfect person like Jesus could be slow to anger. This is true, but we have have the power to do so in the holy spirit. Anger is a process we are required to express even if we’re trying to live the “best christian life” . Anger is an emotion that alarms us to the need for change. It’s valid and acceptable to be angry in this world because there is in fact much that needs to change. Slow doesn’t turn into passivity but gives us a practical more peaceful way to process this complex emotion.
Even The Best Of Us Experience Anger
My new favorite word as of late as I have been dealing with years of bitterness is the word lament. To lament means to give a passion expression of grief or sorrow. Many popular scripture that people could recite by memory are considered to be laments. Much of the Psalms are Davids laments to the Lord. David was so close to to God that he is reffered to a man after Gods own heart. He was a man of sorrow, in a desperate place at the point in his life he wrote the psalms. He had dealt with much hurt and deceit from his own son. He came to the point where all he could do was call out to the Lord with pure honesty. The Lord never left his side when he was in exile in the caves of the wilderness. Another well known character in the Bible is Samson. His life is a tragic story all the way to the end. He believed in the Lord, and in his final moments he expressed his anger over the sins of the people. This expression caused the Lord to give him the strength in his final breath to demolish these evil people. In the story of Job, his is hurt and angry because he can’t see the reason for his suffering. All the while he is in conversation with the Lord and the Lord comforts his soul.
Our God Is A Honest God
In all his perfectness Jesus himself experienced anger . He had to come down to earth and feel everything we feel as mortal humans. This is how he relates to us, was able to take our place on the cross, and have unending mercy toward us. He was in ragged by the people making his temple ground to prey on weak souls through the selling of sacrifices. I can only imagine he had anger mixed with his sorrow as he cried ” My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me” as he suffered on the cross. HE UNDERSTANDS! He desires deep and honest relationship with us. Only when we are honest with him about our emotions can he begin to change the ones that are less desirable into power that he can use to bring change into this broken world.
When anger emerges, move toward God. He is our ultimate source of guidance and refuge from the storms that rage within us. The Lord desires a broken spirit, we can pray our laments to him. He will not judge us but hold and guide us in what’s the next right thing to do that will bring honor and glory to him.