I’ve been angry lately. Justifiably so. About many things.
Normally, my anger dissipates rather quickly, but this anger has been simmering for some time and is now a full-blown blaze which I can’t easily extinguish.
As I was walking through campus a few days ago alone with my thoughts, the anger flared and I felt it with everything in me. Just as I was beginning to appease myself and reel it in, I was given Divine permission to be angry and to give my anger full vent.
Scripture tells us to “be angry, but do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26). People generally get so caught up in the “do not sin” part that they forget that anger is a natural response to life’s injustices. Scripture validates our emotional response to the wrongs committed against us and humanity in general, the altered circumstances when everything was “just fine,” the disruptions in life that are unpleasant, uncomfortable, and plain unfair.
Be angry.
Grammatically speaking, God invites us to be–to welcome anger as a state of [our] being. There is something in the scripture that urges us to feel what we feel fully and to let it momentarily become part of who we are—without apology. Such full in the face immersion in the anger diminishes the magnitude, the awfulness of the thing and we can move toward reconciliation and healing.
I’m generally not a ranter. I don’t get angry enough to cause alarm. I don’t yell (too loudly). I don’t throw things. I don’t threaten and I certainly don’t hit. I’ve been trying to put words (and actions) to what it means for me to give full expression to my anger.
As I figure this out, I’m noting that the biblical parameters give me a lot of room to vent…as long as I do no harm to others or myself. As long as anger is a temporary state of being, resolved by “sundown.”
Be angry [at sin—at immorality, at injustice, at ungodly behavior], yet do not sin; do not let your anger [cause you shame, nor allow it to] last until the sun goes down. And do not give the devil an opportunity [to lead you into sin by holding a grudge, or nurturing anger, or harboring resentment, or cultivating bitterness]. –Ephesians 4:26-27 AMP
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Amen!
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God knows our feelings. Yes, there are times when we are angry. How we deal with those angry feelings is crucial. I know sometimes I just need to “full vent” by sharing with my husband or a friend. 🙂 Great message.
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Thanks. The thing that saves me most days is knowing that God is acquainted with our suffering, our grief, our anger. I always talk to hubby, sisters, and a couple of close friends, but I think I need full vent in other ways.
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Absolutely true
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This is so true. Anger is an emotion and God does give us the permission to be angry and not to sin. I like the following quote from your post.”Be angry [at sin—at immorality, at injustice, at ungodly behavior.”
In one of our outreach programs, I ran into a man that actually made me angry. In my chat with Him he seemed to be siding with the people that accused Jesus of wrong-doing which lead to Jesus being crucified. Long after the conversation ended I was still angry. Later that day the Holy Spirit kept bringing these words to my mind. I had heard them before, but not really sure what they meant. The words which the Holy Spirit brought to my mind was, “Righteous Indignation.” On looking up this term I found that it meant the any thing that would anger God are the things that we can be angry about, and sin and ungodly behaviour are certainly things that would anger God.
A great read!!
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For some strange reasons, your comments on posts were going in the spam folder. Something told me to check it today, and there they were 3 comments on posts from you.
Thanks for reading. As for the gentleman you had the discussion with, what was his belief system?
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I’m not quite sure what or who he really believed in. After a while, his wife who was waiting for him a little ways off came back and told him to bless us so they could go. He walked off without saying a word. I was very glad because I don’t want blessings from anyone who seem to oppose Jesus and the things He did while here on earth.🙏🏽🙏🏽 We have other Christians come by our booth who are of other faiths and we have lovely chats…..somehow, this one for whatever reason seemed a bit different.
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