When Anger has Lease

Greetings Dear Reader,

Sometimes things make me very angry.  Recently I was assured that a specific thing would be done that is important to my job.  That thing was then reversed after my waiting for it to occur before moving forward on an important task.  I do not mean to be vague but the details are not as important as the situation.  I was very angry; so angry that I had to withdraw from the situation to regain my focus.

I have been thinking long and hard lately about Paul’s admonition to the Ephesians to “be angry and sin not.”  What does it take for me to do both well?  The first thing is to put anger in perspective.  Like any other emotion, it is allowed to live but must not dominate.  Feelings are what they are.  With feelings I must be very careful to evaluate them properly.  For me that means a series of logical questions.

First I must assess why I feel as I do.  Feelings result from my own attitudes and positions on issues.  If I feel anger then it is as a result of my position on what event has occurred.  There are times when it is wrong for me to feel angry.  If I think that others should move at my schedule and become angry because the person in line in front of me moves slower than I wish, then I am wrong.  If someone gives me their word and breaks it, then my anger is justified.  I must first determine if my anger is justified. 

If my anger is valid then I must be careful to honestly feel it without doing something wrong.  I must still treat everyone involved with love, kindness, and I must maintain my humility.  I think that humility may be the key.  Even if I am wronged it is my obligation to move in the direction of peace as soon as possible.  I cannot control what others do.  I cannot control the hearts and minds of men.  What I can control is my attitude and response.

No matter how right I am my focus must be on Christ and how to emulate him whilst honestly feeling my anger.  If my attitude is that anger must push me toward making peace and tempering my pride then anger is useful and for a time proper.  So on those rare occasions when anger is the product of my being right and not the product of my pride it must fuel my passion for doing right. 

You see for me my response to justified anger must be one of releasing control.  If something has been done to me that is wrong, I can only control my response not what others do to me.  I must embrace that truth that God is in control and that his command to not sin in my anger has a purpose.  I must accept that it is my opportunity to forgive and to move on in love and grace.  Anger does have lease at times in my life.  I must assure that the lease is very restrictive and has a very short term.  Like the wild beast that it is, I must keep my anger on a short lease.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”