Context
- Over the last couple of weeks, my sister has been sending a few texts updating me on their current situation. Each one more pessemistic than the last
- In the past, I have tried to offer as much help as possible: monetary, a shoulder to cry on, or offering time to help them find solutions to problems
- Wednesday, she texted me another update about their current situation and started with “I know you don’t care but.” After talking to Christy, I let it go and treated it like she was using texts as a journal entry
- Yesterday, she texted me calling me out for ignoring her texts and saying that I was either stupid for assuming she wanted money or a jerk if I had nothing to say
- This set me off
- Within 15 minutes, Christy had calmed me down, explaining that she was probably just lashing out because she had no better way to express herself
- I think we can all see where I could have done better here
- That said, in the day-to-day, should we pray for God’s help in these moments? Let’s talk about where we stop and the Holy Spirit starts
Anger
- What is anger? The common description is a warning flag that others are attempting to violate our boundaries; it’s an emotion that tells you to push back against that, whether for yourself or for someone else
- That said, our boundaries can be triggered because of pride, not “valid” reasons (i.e. abuse)
- Aside from pride, anger “becomes” sin is when:
- We are no longer speaking truth in Love (Eph 4:15)
- Holding a grudge (Eph 4:26)
- When one “only sees red” (Prov 29:11)
- I think this is one we all know is bad but also all struggle with
- As a recap:
- Psalm 37:8
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
- James 1:20
For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
- Ecc 7:9
Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.
- Prov 16:32
Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
- Col 3:8
But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
- 1 Cor 13:4-5
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful
- Psalm 37:8
- K, that wasn’t anything new. Quick to anger = not Godly, slow to anger = good
- We also know that anger, in and of itself isn’t bad. God Himself gets angry, explicitly:
- Mark 3:1-6, particularly v5
(In a synogogue Jesus asks if it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath but no one answers) And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
- Ps 7:11-12
God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. If a person does not repent, God sharpens his sword and prepares to shoot his bow.
- Additionally, there’s of course the Jesus-whipping-people event (Matt 21:12, Mark 11:15-16)
- Mark 3:1-6, particularly v5
Praying for God’s Help
- God has already given us the Holy Spirit
- While it’s perfectly ok to ask God for help, we need to remember that He already is
- We are to lean on the Holy Spirit - which is tomato/tomato - but how we respond is up to us
Setting Ourselves up to Fail
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Perhaps the two biggest shortcomings of ONLY leaning on God:
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If God doesn’t respond by saving us from ourselves, our faith is lessened and our witness can be damaged
- Mark 9:17-29
A member of the crowd said to [Jesus], “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that makes him mute. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they were not able to do so.” He answered them, “You unbelieving generation! How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I endure you? Bring him to me.” So they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell on the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. It has often thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Then Jesus said to him, “‘If you are able?’ All things are possible for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the boy cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Now when Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” It shrieked, threw him into terrible convulsions, and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He is dead!” But Jesus gently took his hand and raised him to his feet, and he stood up. Then, after he went into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” He told them, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”
- What do we learn here?
- Even Jesus’s deciples, who were given the Spirit prior to Pentecost (Matt 10:1 - “Jesus … gave them authority over unclean spirits so that they could cast them out and heal every kind of disease”), they were sometimes unable to heal
- This was in part due to unbelief of the desciples themselves and in part due to unbelief of the others
- Jesus’s recommendation to build this muscle: prayer (some translations also include fasting). Prayer is for our benefit, allowing us to hear more clearly from the Holy Spirit
- Mark 9:17-29
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We can tend to play the victim, saying things like “when I fail” and turning grace into license
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What else to do?
- James 1:2-4 — we should take the opportunity as a blessing and a challenge to overcome, being reminded that God intends all things for our good (Rom 8:28-29)
- Kill them with kindness (Gen 50:21, Rom 12:21) — Joseph demonstrates this (kinda) when he rescues the family that left him for dead and sold him into slavery
- Like we talked about earlier, try to avoid the line:
- Only speak truth and only speak out of love
- Address it or truly let it go; no grudges
- Don’t react, act (count to ten) (Eph 4:31 — let all bitterness and wrath be put away)
- And, the common sense one: don’t surround yourself with people that instegate (not always our choice, of course)
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. — Rom 12:18
Important
Question: I don’t think I really presented anything new here. How do you all handle anger or, in general, temptation of any sort?When it comes to lust, we have strategies: go do something else; other sins are similar. For anger, is it the same or does it need to be treated separately?