Is it ok to be angry?

Well, I haven't blogged in a while. I have this back pain that will not go away, and I was fortunate enough to catch that horrible flu bug that is causing havoc all over. I won't complain though, at least my girls and wife didn't get it, and the back pain does let up here and there. I went through physical therapy for my back and learned quite a bit of exercises to strengthen my "core" muscles to keep a strong back that isn't prone to "going out" like mine does on occasion. I must admit my back problems are my own fault' being young you think you are invincible and you never listen to people when they tell you not to lift something that heavy or if you do lift like this with your legs. I never listened to that and am paying the price now. Whats the old saying "young and smart"? No that's not it, its;"young and dumb".

Now even though its my fault and I admit that, I am still a baby when it comes to pain, ask my wife, definitely when its pretty severe pain. When I'm in pain like this I tend to be testy, or grumpy with a short fuse you could say. I end up walking around with anger in me, something that I am not fond of , for I like being pain free and happy. Well I was doing some soul searching the last few days at work, and realized that this pain is putting anger in me and am I sinning against God for being angry? Well the first verse that came to mind was Ephesians 4:26"In your anger do not sin:do not let the sun go down while you are still angry 27 and do not give the devil a foothold."

The first part of this verse(in your anger do not sin) is quoted by Paul here from Psalm 4:4. So is it alright to be angry? This verse tells us not to sin in our anger, so we haven't sinned yet in being angry, oh but how easy it is to fall into the temptation of sin when one is angry. That is a trait we all must strive to achieve, to keep our cool when someone/thing really gets to us, under our skin and in our minds. You know what I'm talking about, we all as humans struggle with this. There is someone or something out there that just rubs you the wrong way even thinking about it. Its fine to get mad, its gonna happen, if you have a legitimate reason, but how you handle that anger is what leads to sin and can "give the devil a foothold" as verse 27 says. Do not be fooled, the devil will not light the match, but he will offer it to you and stand right beside you dancing as the house burns down. So what we need to always strive for is being able to control our anger rather than allowing our anger to control us. I like these two verses as well:
Proverbs 15:18 "A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension,
but a patient man calms a quarrel"
Proverbs 19:11 :A mans wisdom gives him patience:
it is to his glory to overlook an offense"

James 1:19-20 "My dear brothers, take note of this,: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,20 for mans anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires" Have I mentioned before how much I love the Bible!? What a tool that teaches all the ways to live a righteous life and all the ways to please our Heavenly Father. Let us not only learn to control our anger, but let us be very slow to become angry as James writes. Let us not "sweat the small stuff". Imagine if more people did that,I bet the divorce rate would be much lower if we could let go of a lot of selfishness and not get angry over such small little things that in the grand scheme of things is nothing. You know?

Jesus got mad at the money changers in the temple and turned over the tables. He did not do this out of selfish anger, He did this because they had turned the house of His Father into a "den of robbers". He never got angry and lashed out at people because they had wronged Him. He came and lived a perfect life of which we can never do, by not sinning. Being angry at unrighteousness and unrighteous acts is a healthy anger. Its selfish anger that gets us into trouble and wrapped up in sin. God hates sin and does not and will not look upon it with favor. I hate abortion and the very fact that its legal angers me, but I cannot go shooting the doctors of these places or burning the buildings down. That would be letting my anger turn to sin and giving the devil the foothold he so eagerly longs for. Its alright to be angry at such things, but let us always take a scriptural approach to our anger rather then a carnal and selfish approach. God is the judge, therefore leave the judging to him.

I have really started to ramble on this one, but anger is something we see and might even experience everyday. I will sum this up by saying what I did earlier, let us avoid becoming angry at all times possible, but when we do become angry let us have control of it rather than it control us. We not only represent other Christians in the way we act, but also our Lord Jesus Christ. So let us act in a manner worthy to be called His friend, His disciple,His child.

My prayer for all who read this is that God will help you draw closer to Him every day. That He will give you strength in all your trials and that you will give Him praise no matter what or where you are at in life. May we learn to control our anger in a way that pleases Him whom gave us the breath of life. With love and good tidings always.
C.