Stuck in Anger

Have you turned your life entirely over to God? Do you live in constant struggle with anger in your heart? Ecclesiastes 7:9 says anger lives in the laps of fools. It doesn't say fools live in the lap of anger. It doesn't say that fools can't get rid of it because that's where they live, or just how they are. This verse implies two things.

One, it implies that there is a lack of action on the part of the fools. The angry fool is sitting. A standing man doesn't have a lap; a lap only exists when a person is seated. To put your lap away is as simple as standing up. Thus, standing up removes the dwelling place of the anger. Secondly, this verse implies that anger will not of it's own accord leave a fool. Anger has made it's home in the lap of the fool. It's comfortable there, and has no intention of going anywhere.

The Bible doesn't say we can't get mad. On the contrary, Ephesians 4:26 says to be angry and sin not. This passage also informs us that we shouldn't hold a grudge. God knows that we are human. He knows that we have hormones and emotions and testosterone and will be prone to becoming angry. However, Proverbs 29:11 says a wise man keeps himself under control. We shouldn't be angry all the time, but when we are we should still display a Christlike spirit.

So what then can we do about anger? Ecclesiastes 10:4 says calmness is the antidote to anger. Jesus Christ is also known as the Prince of Peace. Do you let Him bring His peace to your life? If you have a true relationship with Him, then that peace is part of the package. If you truly know Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you can turn to Him to comfort you and to keep you from your less desirable human emotions.

A Rewarding Response

How often have we responded poorly when we've gotten in trouble, and ended up in more trouble than we started out in? I know as children we've all done it. I've seen lots of adults do it as well, when they've gotten in trouble at work or in some sort of family trouble. Proverbs 1:23 tells us that if we have the proper response to God, even when He rebukes us, He will bless us.

Proverbs 1:24-27 tells us though that if we reject and ignore God, that God will mock us as our calamity that we have brought forth upon ourselves through the rejection of His wisdom overtakes us. The Bible goes on to say in Proverbs 1:28-31 that those who have rejected God will then begin to look for him and won't be able to find Him; that their only satisfaction will be that of the foolishness which has separated them from the love of their Creator.

Finally, Proverbs 1:32 outlines where those who rejected God have gone astray: the waywardness of the simple, and the complacency of fools. Simply sitting around doing nothing, or following those who have no clue where they're going has separated them from God. Proverbs 1:33 though gives us the solution to this problem: listen to God.

Will you listen to God, or will you separate yourself from Him through foolishness and the folly of man? It's as simple as listening to Him, and there's no time like the present. Our listening to God will be rewarded by Him. Is that the response we will have to Him?