Blinding Anger

Do you ever get so mad you can’t see straight?  I know I have.  You can’t think things through.  You just see the person, thing or event that upset you.  You focus on the jealousy, the loss or the hurt.  You could have 10 good things happen to you in one day, but all you see is the one bad thing.  Your joy has been stolen.  You have totally lost focus on the good and the right.  All you can think about is what should have been or what you can do about it to make it the way you want it.  You don’t have the time to be patient and wait for things to work out or smooth over.  You don’t have the guts to talk to the person who hurt you.  You would rather talk bad about them to anyone who will listen.  If you do get the courage up to go speak to the person, you just end up yelling at them.  You don’t hear their side of the incident.  You can only hear the voice in your head repeating over and over again what they did to you that hurt you.  In your blinding anger, you usually do something you will regret.  It most likely will hurt you and others.  You say or do something that is a sin against God.  Now you are not only emotionally or physically hurt, but you are spiritually hurt.  The Biblical account of Cain is a perfect example of blinding anger.  Read Genesis 4: 3-8.

³ In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. ⁴ And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent. ⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? ⁷ If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” ⁸ Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

I am not sure who said “Anger is an emotion that makes your mouth work faster than your brain”, but I agree.  Cain even had God step in and ask him why he was so angry.  God was trying to get Cain back on track.  Instead Cain ignored God because he let his anger continue to blind him.  He opens his mouth and deceptively asks Abel to go out in the field with him, and then he kills him.  He let his emotions dictate to him what was right.  How many times do we let our emotions do the same?  “If it feels good, it must be right.”  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  God gave us a reasoning mind and a Holy Spirit to guide us.  When we are blinded by anger, we need to stop and listen for God.  We need to realize that blinding anger or uncontrolled anger is not from God.  The devil is stirring the emotion of anger within us to get us to sin.  Ephesians 4:26 says –

 Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger,

Our anger must be for a godly reason.  We must not sin when we become angry.  We must take care of our anger in a timely manner and not let it fester.  The temporal physical problems we face on this earth should not anger us.  Good fortune of others should not anger us.  Loss of things, such as jobs, should not anger us.  Rude words and actions of others should not anger us.  The list can go on and on.  What should anger us is the sin in the world and the things that anger God.  Whatever the case, our anger should be in control and in line with God.  If we are tempted to yell, do harm or seek revenge, then we are about to cross the line with our anger.

Wisdom tells us to take the blinders off, when anger comes in to view.  Look for the Holy Spirit.  Listen to what He is saying to you about the situation.  Ask God for help with the anger.  Ask God to help you see things clearly.  Don’t let the anger fester.  Don’t let anger blind you, like it did Cain.

About these ads