Are you ever angry about life? Don’t know why things are going the way they are? Are you having trouble believing that you can let go of control in your life in order to find peace? Despite your efforts, are your well-intentioned and well-designed life plans somehow not working out or living up to everything you imagined? Are you blaming it on God?
Where does our anger come from?
Our anger comes from the fact that we want to know everything, we want to see the big picture, we want to understand the end result, we want to be sure that something will make us happy before we say “ok”… This all stems from a desire to control, to be in charge of the way things go. From a belief that we already know what is best and that we alone can make ourselves happy.
When we think we know better than God, we are just falling in to the temptation of devil in the garden of Eden all over again.
God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil. – Genesis 3:5
This very fact, our pride, is the very reason God humbles us, the very reason He doesn’t allow us to see, the very reason He wants us to fail ourselves, so that we can learn to trust in Him. So that we can see our need for Him.
Our efforts to control that which is so much bigger than us do not make us successful, merely more prone to bitterness, resentment, and discontent.
Our life and God’s plan are outside of our control, (because we cannot see the big picture). It’s not logical to be angry just because we can’t see the future, that’s just a part of life. Remember, only hindsight is 20/20. How do we know we will be angry in hindsight? Is spoiling the present moment worth it?
Combatting our anger
Maybe what you need is a change in perspective….
Remember, all life is a paradox!
Power is made perfect in weakness,
Joy is found in selflessness,
Fullness is found in giving,
Meaning is found in chaos,
Healing is found in pain,
New life is found in death,
Love finds it’s climax in the cross.
Your calling most often “attacks” the area of your weakness because God is trying to help you grow the areas where you need it most.
Our resistance is what makes us angry.
Just because you don’t understand something (yet) doesn’t mean that it is something to be angry about.
The sooner we learn the lesson that each situation is trying to teach us, the sooner the lesson will be over. Be open to learning. Open to being wrong. Open to change. Our anger cannot last very long when you finally allow Him to make us happy.
So, we must let go of our need to control. Embrace the flow, the unknown, the dance… We are in the arms of the One who loves us, the One who will never let us fall, and the One who only wants to show off how awesome He made us.
Still not sure how to let go of your anger?
It is a consuming feeling isn’t it? It’s so much easier to talk about letting go than to actually let go…. It might take some time but here are some practical steps to try:
- Ask yourself if you are genuinely willing to let go? (You might not be if you are you still actively nursing a grudge or justifying your anger)
- Have you talked to God about why you are angry? (He’s a big boy, He can take it! Honesty is SO key! He wants all of you. Healing begins when you are willing to own up to the things that are bothering you)
- Have you asked God to take your anger? To replace your heart of stone with a heart of flesh?
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. – Ezekiel 36:26
Sometimes our anger can be like layers of an onion…
We have to strip back as many pieces as it takes to get to the core. Don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t happen overnight. If you repeat these steps enough with a genuine heart, you will find peace!
