ANGER AND FEAR

2009 December 27
by pastorwoody

Anger And Fear

 
 
Anger and fear are two emotions that paralyze our spiritual development and rob us of joy in our walk with Christ.

Anger usually focuses on our disappointment over occurrences of the past: The violation of our “rights,” frustration over how things have turned out, or lack of fulfillment over not having achieved our goals. We either doubt God’s ability to manage our lives, or we resent His sovereign intrusion into them:

Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
Psalms 78:19

But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. Luke 19:14

Fear usually focuses on our anxious anticipation of the future: Do we have what it takes to realize our hopes and aspirations, or will our lives crash in upon us? In the future, will some uninvited calamity make its intrusion?

Similar concerns faced the Israelites when they came back from exploring the Promised Land. Tragically, because they refused to take God at His Word, they were diminished and immobilized by fear: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them Num 13:1-2
And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
Num 13:27-28
But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. Num 13:31-33

The opposite of anger is gratitude, and the opposite of fear is rest. If we are thankful and at ease over the fact that God is overseeing the affairs of our lives, we will experience an inner calm and joy. And joy is the necessary “oil” that lubricates the “machinery” of life. Unresolved anger or fear on the other hand, become the “sand” in the machinery, that will in time cause our lives to grind to a halt.

The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. Prov 10:28

QUESTION: Would those closest to us say that our life is driven by anger and fear, or characterized by gratitude and rest? If the answer is anger and fear, what changes do we need to make at this time?

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