Unprofitable Anger

I found this e-devotional in my inbox this morning. It arrived with potentially perfect timing. Way to go God! Hah, praying for zero drama this weekend...

Unprofitable Anger
by Os Hillman

Today's Prayer:
Dear God, I pray that I will be able to control my anger in situations that cause me to become angry. Please help me to "be angry and not sin." I don't like being angry, but sometimes things happen that cause it to rise up inside of me. Help me to respond with wisdom and calmness or to keep quiet until my emotions are under better control. Please guide me and direct me in all things. Thank You for not taking out anger upon me when You are upset with me. Thank You for loving me in spite of my imperfections and shortcomings. Thank You for Your willingness to forgive. In Jesus name, amen.


Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools. ~ Ecclesiastes 7:9

Every day of our lives we are placed in situations that engage us with other people, whether it is in the office, our homes, or in public places. Do you recall the last time someone cut you off in traffic, or you were forced to wait in line because someone up front got held up? Perhaps your employer did something that was downright unfair. Anger can result from many circumstances.

A friend once told me that anger is like warning lights on the front of your car dashboard. They signal that there is something going on under the hood, and we should take a look to examine the source of the problem. Anger can be traced to a few sources. First, when we lose control of a circumstance that we have placed certain expectations on and those expectations do not result in our desired outcome, we are tempted to get angry. The source of this type of anger is both fear and protection of personal rights. You see, when we believe we have a right to something, we have not given the Lord permission to allow an outcome different from what we want. If an outcome is different from our expectations, this may stimulate fear.

For instance, if a vendor failed to deliver an important job on time due to something out of his control, you may respond out of anger. Please know that the source of your anger is the fear of what might happen to you or what this might say about your abilities to manage a project. You no longer are in control of the circumstance and this creates fear in you.

The next time you get angry ask the Lord what is the source of that anger? Did the Lord allow that failure to let you see what is "under your hood"? God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind (see 2 Tim. 1:7). Give up your rights to expectations that God never gave you. You will find a new freedom in Christ you never knew you could have.