Anger – it makes me so mad!

I struggle with what my wife calls “simmering anger” I’m sure you know what I mean. Something will tick me off, but I won’t admit it as a problem, will not deal with it, and simply “bury it”

Next thing you know, something else ticks me off. But it isn’t a big issue, so I just ignore it, try to forget about it.

Soon, one more thing ticks me off. (Seems like I git ticked off a bunch, eh?) About this time, I’m starting to feel a bit stressed, but not willing to admit the source of the stress. The latest issue easily looses focus in my mind, because I don’t want to face the issue, even though it may be completely insignificant.

At last, the straw that broke the camels back arrives in some minor irritant in my life, and I let it all out. Simmer simmer simmer BOIL – EXPLODE!

One day, my car wouldn’t start and I exploded. Entering the house, I hurled my keys across the table, without realizing my 3 year old son was sitting at the end of it. Thankfully, the keys slid past him and dented the wall instead of my son. (God protects His fool again!)

Anger – such a monster, but why? I heard a fella once teach that anger is the result of unmet expectations.

You get that? If that premise is true, we fuel our own anger problem. Of course some anger is beneficial, even required, but that righteous anger is not considered in this post. This post simply deals with selfish, me centered, gimme gimme anger!

An example

I am the type of fella that likes to schedule his day, setting aside a couple hours for this, and a couple hours for that. If the “this” gets in the way of the “that”, I git ticked off. But I created the schedule, assigned the time for both “this” and “that”, and yet, I simmer.

Another example.

I expect, (without communicating my expectations), that certain tasks need to be completed within a certain time. Not done? A bit more simmering in the belly.

One more example.

Got a buddy who doesn’t call me when I hope he will. Blow my stack!

Let’s take a few minutes to consider what the Scriptures teach regarding a wrathful, angry man.

Strife is the work of an angry man. He isn’t happy with his life, and he finds satisfaction in spreading strife, or division among those he associates with. This type of man eventually becomes lonely, which only fuels the anger, that unmet expectation of love and kindness we all look for.

This unmet expectation of love results in greater anger, and further loneliness and abandonment. The greater the wrath, the greater the suffering. It is a vicious spiral of destruction that only the angry man can stop. Friends and family will suffer when they seek to rescue him, without success.

19:19

A man of great wrath will pay the penalty,
for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.

A fools wrath is heavy, a burden to himself and to those around him. A dead weight, a heaviness and a ballast to the good life.

27:3

A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

One of my wife’s favorite verse is Proverbs 15:1, and she has plenty of practice using this wisdom with her stubborn ol hubby

She has often provided a soft answer to speak to me of bigger things Her quietness of spirit is deafening at times!

15:18
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,
but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.

If you are an angry man inside, the only one who can help you is YOU. Do not blame God for this condition, for if you claim the Christ as Lord, He has provided the Spirit of God, and one of the fruits of the Spirit is Self-Control. Anger does not have ultimate power over a believer.

Consider this final proverb, and the wisdom it communicates

Proverbs 16:32
Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

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