Anger…

Have you ever been angry?  I’m not talking about mad; I’m talking furious. Enough that’s it’s hard to function.  I found myself like that this week. 

I heard recently that anger only lasts 90 seconds and if you don’t allow yourself to react to it, it will go away.  I have seen that to be true but sometimes there is more to it. Sometimes you get so angry that you can’t think straight, can’t focus on anything other than the cause.  Some days it seems as though everything bad that can happen to you does, nothing good is in sight, and you feel there is no hope for relief. 

When I get that way, the only thing that seemed to help was going outside, being quiet, and turning to God.  I realized there was nothing I could do to help fix the situation on my own.  Everything I tried failed and made things worse.  Honestly if I had a stronger prayer life, I think I could avoid these episodes all together. 

We can sometimes use anger to encourage us to be better.  Most of the time when I fail at something, I end up being angry.  Most of the time I can pinpoint where I went wrong and why I failed but when I can’t the anger sets in.  That anger can be productive if used in the right way, but it seldom is.

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.   -  Ephesians 4 : 31-32 NLT

That verse in Ephesians gives some good clarity to how simple the process should be for calming ourselves.   It’s pretty clear that those qualities don’t have a place in our lives.  We should instead be full of encouragement, love, generosity, and peace.   Some people choose other methods like counting to a number, going for a walk, or writing it down.  For me, staying in the word of God and having a strong prayer life are some keys to living out those qualities.   I still struggle with doing that well but I’m working on it.

This week, hopefully you aren’t faced with anger, but if you are, you know how to handle it.  Don’t let it control you and cause even more issues in your life, instead turn that anger into happiness.