“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. . . “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”—James 1:19-20, 26-27
Ever found yourself upset at sunset? Or in other words have your ever found yourself being angry, especially at the end of the day? We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Do you think you’re alone when you have those feelings? When you think about the British, what image comes to mind? Maybe polite tea parties and gentlemanly games of cricket perhaps? Or long hikes in the quiet countryside? Well, think again. According to a national survey by the RAC Foundation for Motoring in Great Britain, 80.4 percent of United Kingdom drivers report they’ve been the victims of road rage. Some 70 percent confess they’ve committed road-rage offenses—though only 14 percent indicate any remorse for their actions. In other words, the other guy deserved it!
An earlier survey published by the RAC concluded that 600,000 British drivers have been physically attacked in road-rage incidents. More than a million drivers have been rammed by another motorist. Wow. Talk about bumper cars! And we thought people got angry around here. By the way, some of you are driving to work right now so be careful. It’s a jungle out there!
Now what’s so bad about anger? Well, anger can be a positive thing, especially if we get angry about injustice, abortion, crime, sin, lying, corruption, violence, perversion and other evils in the world. That kind of anger can motivate us to do something about those issues. When God expresses His anger in scripture it is always against things like that. But anger can also be very negative and the Bible warns us many times about anger that gets out of control. In fact the word used for anger is literally the same word for “wrath” which is a state of mind that is bent on revenge―or getting even or payback time. Did you know that revenge, payback and the like is God’s job? In fact, He says in Romans 10:19, “It is mine to avenge, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Here are some additional warnings about this kind of anger that we should heed: “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret–it leads only to evil” (Psalm 37:8). “Mockers stir up a city, but wise men turn away anger” (Proverbs 29:8). “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control” (Proverbs 29:11).
So, next time you get angry, and we all do more than we’d like to admit, let’s make sure it doesn’t get out of hand. God will help us calm our spirits if we’ll turn to him and turn down the heat, especially by the time the sun goes down. Maranatha!
Pastor Don
