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By Paula Marolewski, September 22, 2010 10:30 am

“His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime.” Psalm 30:5

Time and again throughout both the Old and New Testaments, God is revealed as experiencing anger. Therefore, we can state with sureness that anger is an appropriate part of God’s character.

But now we need to move one step further: because we are made in God’s image, anger is an appropriate part of our character.

God’s anger is against sin and unrighteousness. Our anger, unfortunately, tends to be a lot more wide-ranging, and often includes things we have no right to be angry about. Another problem is that, while God always demonstrates his anger in appropriate ways, we often do not.

Because we are often angry at inappropriate things or act our anger out in inappropriate ways, people sometimes tell us (or we tell ourselves) that “we should never be angry.” “Never”? No, that is a lie of the devil. We have every right to be angry at the things that make God angry. We have every right to demonstrate and act on our anger as long as we do not sin in doing so.

Rather than being ashamed of your anger, it is time to hold it up to the light, examine it, reject what is sinful, and embrace what is good.

• What does it mean to you to realize that anger, in and of itself, is part of the image of God within you?
• What parts of your anger at your anxiety are justifiable? What parts are not?
• What is an appropriate way of addressing or demonstrating your anger? What is not?

© 2010 Paula Marolewski, www.SinkYourRoots.com

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By Paula Marolewski, September 22, 2010 10:30 am

“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.’ So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him; and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, ‘Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?’ Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.’” Numbers 20:7-12

Moses was rightfully angry at the Hebrew people. They griped and complained at every turn, and continually turned away from the Lord. Yet again they needed water, and yet again they didn’t trust God for it. Nevertheless, God was willing to meet their needs one more time, and he gave specific instructions to Moses.

Moses, however, let his anger control him, instead of the other way around. And as a result, he himself would never see the Promised Land. From Moses’ example, we see that when we are angry, we should:

Honor the LORD. Anger tends to make us very self-focused. Even if you have “righteous indignation,” keep your eyes off yourself and on God.

Watch your tongue. You can positively hear Moses’ scathing voice, “Listen now, you rebels!” Regardless of how angry you are, don’t throw around insults and epithets.

Control your actions. When you are fit to bursting, you want to lash out. Sometimes a physical expression of anger may be appropriate, but most of the time it isn’t. While you should not internalize your anger, you should control your outward expressions of it.

• How do you express anger? Are you in line with Scripture with what you do and say?
• Looking back at times when you were angry, what words or actions fed your anger so that it increased, and what words or actions addressed your anger so that it decreased?

© 2010 Paula Marolewski, www.SinkYourRoots.com

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By Paula Marolewski, September 22, 2010 10:28 am

“Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, and He will hear my voice.” Psalm 55:17

David was angry. A close friend had betrayed him, with bitter results. So what did he do? I could say that he called upon God and prayed. David himself was more blunt: “Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur.”

Complaining. Murmuring. David was being devastatingly honest with God: about his situation, about the pain it was causing, about his despair, and about his anger. Without apology, he brought it all before God night and day, complaining and griping about what was happening.

We see two important truths from this psalm:

It is all right to be honest with God. God can handle your anger. Pour it out to him. Let him be the first one you turn to, and hold nothing back.

Honesty with God brings resolution. If you read through Psalm 55, you will see a progression. David pours out his pain and expresses his anger, but then the tumult of his emotions begins to calm down. He reaffirms his trust in God, culminating with the verse, “Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken” (Psalm 55:22). 

If you are honest with God about your anger, you will find that he will help you to think through the situation and to place your trust in him. But he can only work with what you bring him, so bring him everything.

• What were you brought up to think about anger and being angry? Were these ideas true and scriptural or not?
• Do you feel comfortable being completely honest with God about your anger? Why or why not?
• What are you most angry about? Spend time in prayer telling God about the situation, and about your anger. 

© 2010 Paula Marolewski, www.SinkYourRoots.com

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