Why Are You Angry?

Even though there is no rigorous dress code for attending Sunday service, the outfit we put on does reflect our inner attitude. Imagine an unkempt chap with sloppy clothes attending a stately wedding ceremony, he would be driven out for his untidy attires. Each Sunday, we would dress up on the outside and cleanse up from inside and come together to worship the Holy God, but for our personal time with God, there is no restriction in neither location nor time. The outside washing and dressing up may happen once a week, but the inner cleansing must be a daily continual process, since it is a lot more frequent and easier for sin to splash into our heart than for mud to splash upon our clothes. When mud splash unto clothes, the clothes will stain; when sin splash into heart, the heart too will stain.

One obvious stain of sin is anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (Jas. 1:20 ESV) When the LORD had no regard for Cain and his offering, So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?” (Gen. 4:5-6 ESV) This is the question to every angry man, because anger is the stain sin leaves on the human heart. You must quickly wash it up by subduing the anger, as God instructed Cain, sin lies in wait at the door: its urge is for you, yet you can rule over it. (Gen. 4:7 NAB) But Cain listened not, rather he let his anger burn red hot and cooked out the evil action and killed his brother. Still, there is hope. When God confronted David about the murder he committed, David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” (2 Sam. 12:13 ESV) When David confessed his sin, his sin was forgiven, but when the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” (Gen. 4:9 ESV) Cain made no confession, and therefore his sin remained. He fell all the way from an angry man to a murderer, to a blatant liar, and finally died as a restless wanderer.

Self-centered sinners always express jealousy in anger. Imagine a patient tells his doctor that he gets well because he received a different treatment from another doctor. The doctor may congratulate him in words, but he would certainly feel angry in his heart. This other doctor may not be Dr. Abel, but he certainly makes his fellow doctor look as bad as Cain and as angry as Cain too. This is true not just for doctors but for anyone with talents. Whenever you lost a bid to someone else, you are hit with anger. You have no time to duck it and such home run happens everyday in our lives. Only when we know God and know that everything we have comes from above, then we can quench this jealous fire. This takes true humility. When Moses was told about some Israelites prophesying in the camp, even Joshua was angry, But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” (Num. 11:29 ESV) Moses was not afraid of being surpassed, he would rather every Israelite run pass him towards God. No wonder the Bible declares, Now the man Moses was very humble, more than anyone else on earth. (Num. 12:3 NAB)

Whoever wants to draw closer to God must subdue his anger. As road rage comes without warning and can instantly turn an angry man into a murderer, anger hits a man as quick as mud splashed into clothes. Though we cannot duck it, we can certainly cleanse it after we get splashed. Here is the secret of removing the stain of anger, that you pray for more grace from God to everyone around you, more than you have received. Keep this scripture in mind: Refrain from anger; abandon wrath; do not be provoked; it brings only harm. Those who do evil will be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD will inherit the earth. (Ps. 37:8-9 NAB)
Prayer: O Lord! Help us to pursue spiritual cleanliness. Help us to refrain from anger and honestly wish our neighbor’s lawn greener than ours!