Control for the Enraged

In most of the history of the character, it is anger and rage that sets the hulk free who would then go on a destructive rampage. I find the Hulk an apt hyperbole metaphor for the human condition as well. We all have anger and rage within us and in those times when it comes out, it can cause significant damage in our lives.

Mark Twain said, “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”

That’s why, in our series called Mindset: Taking Every Thought Captive, we want to look at this issue of anger and see, through the scriptures, what God says about anger and how we can properly handle it.

In his letter to the Christians in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul writes this:

Ephesians 4:26–27 NLT

And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

Pray.

Scripture often gives us either an encouragement or an exhortation. This passage gives us one encouragement and two exhortations

It’s okay to get angry

“Be angry” - NASB

God gets angry sometimes

Exodus 32:9–10 NLT

Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”

Jesus clears the temple

Because God gets angry and we are made in his image, we get angry too. In fact, our anger is supposed to be a good thing: It’s supposed to be a reaction to injustice and evil around us.

Missionary to India, Methodist Pastor and author, Dr. David Seamands says, “Anger is a divinely implanted emotion. Closely allied to our instinct for right, it is designed to be used for constructive spiritual purposes. The person who cannot feel anger at evil is a person who lacks enthusiasm for good. If you cannot hate wrong, it's very questionable whether you really love righteousness.”

You should be angry about some things

It’s okay to feel anger at interpersonal things as well - it’s someone or something that is bumping up against your sense of “right.”

Anger is not a sin, but anger unchecked can lead to sin

Control your anger so your anger doesn’t control you

Paul says “don’t sin by letting your anger control you.”

And that’s what some of you do. It’s what I do sometimes. Our anger bursts out of us and we end up saying things we regret later on.

You may think that you have an anger problem. I say you don’t have an anger problem, you have two other problems:

You have a self-centredness problem

You have a self-control problem

How do you control your anger? Follow the 3 R’s

1. Restrain yourself from reacting - get some distance from the incident

2. Renew your mind - remind yourself of truths and realities

3. Respond in healthy ways - think about what the BEST way to respond is.

Process your anger

“Don’t let the sun go down on you when you are still angry”

Issue: repressing anger to make peace - repression isn’t processing.

Why do we need to? “anger gives a foothold to the devil”

So how do we process our anger in a healthy way:

1) Acknowledge it - admit that you are angry

2) Explore it - ask questions

a) Why am I angry?

b) Why did this situation make me angry?

c) What does God say about this?

3) Resolve it

a) Forgiveness is the antidote to anger - it’s an internal process FIRST

b) Go reconcile with the person - sometimes you have to pick the fight to obtain the peace

Conclusion

When we see injustices that happen in our world, we should get angry - angry enough to do something about it. That kind of anger reflects the holy anger that God has - the same anger that Jesus expressed when he saw the temple being misused and defiled. In fact, the thing that makes you most angry might be the thing that God is calling you to start changing.

But when we feel angry because someone has slighted us in some way, we are called to deal with that anger. We are called to control the expression of it and to process it because if we don’t anger can leave a wake of destruction in our lives.

In the spring of 1894, the Baltimore Orioles came to Boston to play a routine baseball game. But what happened that day was anything but routine. The Orioles' John McGraw got into a fight with the Boston third baseman. Within minutes all the players from both teams had joined in the brawl. The warfare quickly spread to the grandstands. Among the fans the conflict went from bad to worse. Someone set fire to the stands and the entire ballpark burned to the ground. Not only that, but the fire spread to 107 other Boston buildings as well.

Don’t allow anger to damage your relationships or your reputation. Take your angry thoughts captive and process your anger in healthy, life-giving ways to the glory of God.