So Much Anger

Monday, January 30, 2023

Stop being angry!  Turn from your rage!  Do not lose your temper—it only leads to harm.  Psalm 37:8

The story of Adam and Eve’s sons, Cain and Abel[1], is such a familiar story.  I believe many of us miss some very important lessons in that tragedy because we imagine there’s nothing we haven’t read before.  Big mistake!

Just consider how many Hollywood movies should footnote the Bible in their credits.  Their storylines come right from the brother’s struggle which revolved around money and sibling jealousy.  And don’t forget the issue was church stewardship – bringing gifts of offering to worship God!  And when Cain’s disobedience and pride were confronted he got ANGRY!  And he stayed angry while he plotted against his brother.  How many families have been destroyed by anger’s ugliness?

Why So Much Anger?

I would be hard-pressed to recount all the ways anger evidences itself in our world.  Let these words open the door in your memory; let them relocate some images for you:

·       Columbine, 9-11, Iraq, Jihad, Afghanistan, Ukraine

·       Stores at Christmas-time, shoppers are trampled in the name of baby Jesus

·       Drunk drivers, IRS, Insurance companies, Covid, Insurance companies

·       Boxer Mike Tyson’s teeth biting-off Evander Holyfield’s right ear!

·       Every show Jerry Springer ever made.

Now, I’d like to be able to say our human family’s anger problem is someone’s fault – blame it on the Republicans or Democrats!  It would be convenient to blame society and the economy – my next-door neighbor.  It would be really easy to simply say “well, it’s my nature; I can’t help how God made us.” 

It would be easy, indeed; it would also be wrong.  Anger is not in the genes; anger resides in the spirit.  Anger is a desire for revenge.  With Cain it was the fact that he brought an offering and God rejected it (because it was not what God had required).  Cain got even with God by striking God’s creation.  That’s anger!

When I was six or seven my mother and aunt took the kids to the lake to swim.  My younger cousin Gary spent half the afternoon building a magnificent sand castle.  I was envious and wanted to play with it; he told me to get lost!  Mom got tired of our ruckus, and told me to leave Gary alone.  I looked at Gary like Cain looked at Abel.  I left, but as I walked away, I stepped right on Gary’s sand castle! 

Anger is part of our existence because deep down in the spirit, if we want something and can’t have it, or someone says something and we don’t like it, or she’s prettier than most and we can’t stand it, we get angry, and we want to get even.  It is born of an arrogance that demands our own way – and plots revenge if we don’t get it!  Anger is one human’s attempt to punish another. 

For You Today  

Understanding where anger begins is the first step in truly confessing it as sin.  This becomes the first step towards leaving anger in the rearview mirror.  Without understanding and repentance, there is no chance of forgiveness and healing.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

When "Saying Nothing" Isn't an Option  and  When God Laughs  and  Short Fuse

This is an updated version of “So Much Anger” published on Rocky Road Devotions January 16, 2014

Images:  Title Pixabay.com   Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] Read the story here:  Genesis 4:3-7