Angry

"An angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered person commits many sins." -Proverbs 29:22

Angry people are everywhere.  They show up on the news with the result of their anger in road rage, violence to others, wars, murder....well, you know the list, you see what happens when angry people act out.  It's all around us.

But I was thinking this morning....why are they so angry?  Why are they mad?  Recently I commented on an atheist site in a discussion and the response from another reader was angry and hostile.  Why?  My words didn't deserve that response, it was completely over the top, out of line and surprising.  "Why is he so mad?" I wondered. 

Then I look at the Muslim world.  Anger seems to drive much of what they do as well.  Anger, they claim, for the honor of Muhammed and Allah, but why are they so angry?  What is driving this?

These are some things that have been bouncing around in my thoughts this morning.  It's clear from scripture that the anger really isn't justified and most often it's exaggerated. Where does this come from?  And then I read this,

"why are the nations so angry?...."  Psalms 2

In the words that follow David explains.  They are angry at God!  They are angry that he is there and he is sovereign.  They are angry that THEY are not god and so they push and shove, fight and kill so they can be the "god" of their world.  

They are angry at God!

So how do we respond?  What do we do when we become angry in our own lives?  

First, respond in love.  The best passage for a proper response is Luke 6:27-38.  It's profound in the implications it offers.  And the one who spoke these words, Jesus, actually lived them out perfectly.

Second, when you become angry realize it's your little attempt to be "god".  Calm down, get over yourself and surrender to the God of everything.  He will take care of the problem for you.  You don't have to fix it.

So what do we do with the increasing anger in the world?  How do we deal with it?  We respond in love and kindness.  Anger and rage around us will increase until the day Christ returns, but the contrast between the world and God's kids will become more evident as the world vents its anger at the God who made them.