Anger and Hope

As we focus on anger this week, perhaps the Spirit of God is giving us a gracious invitation: follow the anger. As one wise counselor summarizes, “Anger pinpoints pain” (Juanita Campbell, Learning to Be). So when we name our anger and trace it to its roots, we can discover much. Sometimes that pain comes from being overlooked, mistreated, or taken advantage of. Sometimes that anger springs up from selfish desire for control or racist need for self-protection.

Look at these two examples. The first is Jesus being enraged by religious leaders excluding the disabled in their midst. The second is the disciples overreacting to being dismissed by the Samaritans (an ethnic rival):

He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. - Mark 3:5

When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them. - Luke 9:54-55

What are the ways you can learn from your anger and treat it as a friend and guide to show you more of your heart? And how can you couple your anger to love so that something new could come from it?

Anger and hope are colaborers. - Kaitlin B. Curtice, Native