Weapons of the Righteous – Cease from Anger

Some years back, I was angry with God, therefore, I told Him He was not good and I wasn’t speaking to Him anymore.  A few days later, one of my pastors gave me sound counsel.  He told me that God has big shoulders, but I needed to apologize.  I did, and I was thankful for a God who did not lash back by striking me with lightning on the spot.  Our Lord abounds with mercy and grace, and He knew the hurts of my heart.   My ire had grown because I had felt sidelined by God and I wanted Him to put me on the field to play my “significant” part.  I was frustrated about all the obstructions that kept me from succeeding in the way I would like.  However, before I had my outburst at my all-knowing God, He understood that I was not ready to do and have all I felt I should.  If I were, I would not have reacted the way I did to Him.  Undoubtedly, I am not the only one who has ever gotten angry at God, or whose anger got the best of them.   The Apostle James implored his brothers and sisters in the Lord to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. (James 1-19-20)

     

                                                                                                

Unfortunately, in the Bible there were men and women of God who were not immune to losing their temper, which resulted in them being disobedient to Him.  The illustrious leader Moses was one such individual.  It might have been righteous indignation that lead him to strike down and kill an Egyptian after he saw him beating one of His fellow Hebrews.   However, what Moses thought was a clandestine act was no secret.  The next day while trying to be a peacemaker when two Hebrew men were fighting each other, he was called out on the murder he had done the previous day.   Now afraid, he ran for his life, fleeing to the backside of the desert.  Lots of anger from all angles in this episode of the life of Moses.  Forty years later, the more mature, but still ill-tempered Moses was called by God to lead the beleaguered Israelites out of Egyptian slavery into the Promised Land.  On their long trek through the desert, the Israelites often ignited God’s fury with not only their murmuring and complaining, but also their rebellious ways.  Once, while Moses was up on Mount Sinai speaking with God, the people were down at their camp making a golden calf idol because they felt Moses was taking too long.  The anger of the Lord burned against the Israelites and He was about to destroy them when Moses intervened and urged Him not to obliterate the obstinate Israelites as the Egyptians would say that He brought the nation into the desert intending to kill them.  Furthermore, Moses reminded God of His promise to the patriarchs to make their descendants as innumerable as the stars in the heavens.  The Lord relented.  But ironically, Moses came down from the mountain and in his fury he threw the tablets of the law written by God on the ground shattering them. He then burned the golden calf and ground it to pieces, then scattered it over the water and made the people drink it.  Nothing that Moses did would have taken the Lord by surprise.  He must have known that Moses would have petitioned Him to change His mind, plus He had foreknowledge that Moses in his rage would have given this rebellious nation some well-deserved punishment. 

Wandering forty years in the desert did not make them much more acquiescent to Godly principles.  On the brink of their Promised Land, they started quarreling with Moses about him bringing them out of Egypt to die.  He once again had to seek the Lord, who told him to speak to the rock so the people could have water.  But, Moses was extremely annoyed and angry at his ungrateful country folk, so he struck the rock twice, and water came forth in abundance.  This was disobedience to God, which resulted in him not entering the Promised Land.  You may think that this punishment was harsh and that years prior God had told him to strike the rock when the Israelites were arguing with him because they again desired water.  However, at that time, Moses did as the Lord had told him to do and performed what may have been a beautiful foreshadowing of Jesus, our Rock, who while He was on the cross had His side pierced and from which water flowed.  This was also a sign that Jesus would be our Living Water.   Hence, striking the rock twice was utter disrespect, which enraged God as Moses was told to speak to the rock.   It was a different time with different directions.

Please pardon me for my lengthy discourse on Moses, but I wanted to stress the point that we, like Moses, disobey God in our anger.  And, sometimes we strike out at our Savior and Redeemer, when things aren’t going our way, which leads us to more trouble.   When we get angry at God we tend to rebel and reject His word, plummeting us into sordid acts of all sorts of evil.  In addition, our exasperation with people often lead us to want revenge, and to take things into our own hands when God has said that vengeance is His.  We need to wait on God for Him to repay, or show His mercy and grace to our transgressors, just as He has done for us.  It is essential for us to realize that we could miss out on God’s blessings when we give in to anger.

Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
For evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.

Psalm 37:8-9

On Moses’ appeal, God ceased from anger and forsook His wrath. Yet, Moses didn’t do as God did, therefore, he was cut off before he could inherit the Promised Land.  You might say Moses was not evil, but any act of disobedience to God is evil.  And, as I often tell my children, consequences for wrongdoing must be faced.    The enemy knows this, so he will orchestrate people and circumstances to cause disharmony and acrimony in our lives, thus, diverting us from God’s path.  And, as we act out in anger the ramifications could be dire.  The wise King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 19:11 that a man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression.   He again penned in Ecclesiastes do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.  If this would only be followed on the Jamaican thoroughfares, where road rage is rampant as the plethora of bad drivers can be quite irksome.  I have seen meek Christians become raving mad when cut off by a reckless motorist.  Frequently, I wonder if many of them repent when they remember that they should,

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.  Ephesians 4:31-32

Forgiving an offense is of utmost importance because when we are consumed by anger, bitterness and resentment will gnaw at us, wearing away our spiritual and even physical health.  Jesus told His disciples that it is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come.  He went on to instruct them to take heed, and if a brother sins rebuke him and if he repents, forgive him, even if he repents seven times for the day (Luke 17:1-4).  Let us not hold on to offenses and remember that it is God’s kindness that brings us to repentance (Romans 2:4), which leads to a revival in our souls and renewal in our bodies as we relinquish resentment and other antagonistic feelings in our lives. For these reasons, we should seek to be kind and forgiving.   On the other hand, if we hold on to anger, it opens the door for the enemy in our lives.

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. Ephesians 4:26-27

God created us.  He knows our inner being and that we will get angry.  It is a normal emotion and as we have seen before, even God gets infuriated.  Nevertheless, He also knows the negative effects of anger, therefore, He set out parameters for us.  We must not do anything to displease God when we are angry, and we must not linger in wrath, or else the devil will have access to pillage and destroy our lives.   Don’t get angry, walk in victory. 

 

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him— a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.  Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.  Colossians 3:8-15

When the peace of Christ rules our hearts, it will also guard our hearts and minds from anger and impatience.  Furthermore, abusive speech will not come out of the abundance of our heart.  Instead, our heart will be fertile ground for wisdom to grow and we will reap its fruit of unity.   We will take off our old selves sullied by our evil behavior in the past, and put on our new selves purified by the righteousness of Christ.   No longer will anger entrap us, but we will be free to be like our Lord, who is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and extravagant in mercy and love.