Post by Cindy on Apr 18, 2018 12:03:34 GMT -5
Wrong anger creates a big problem between you and God. Because your wrong anger has to do with your relationship with God, you can’t deal with it by learning a few strategies or techniques. He doesn’t like upstarts who try to take over his universe. Your anger is not just about you and all the frustrating things that happen to you. It’s not just about you and your cranky, oppositional personality. And it’s not just about you and all the unreasonable people in your life. It’s about you, those frustrating circumstances, all those unreasonable people . . . and the living God. It’s about you acting like you are in charge of God’s world and other people. But God is in charge. Acting as if you are God—pride—is the beating heart of what it means to be a sinner. This insight into anger is hugely freeing and very sobering. Anger going wrong testifies to our pride. When you see yourself as a sinner, instead of focusing on how everyone around you is wrong, then God’s grace and mercy is available to you. God’s mercy is for those who honestly confess their sins to him and ask for the grace to change. James also says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:1–10)
Heart of the matter: Daily reflections for changing hearts and lives
Things like jealousy, anger, & fear, which I used to view as problems in themselves, were actually arrows that pointed to far bigger issues, the false gods of my heart. These emotions became the signs I learned to read, the ones that signaled that my deepest affections had been misplaced. Though it took me awhile to understand, this envy & subtle anger wasn't something I could merely turn off apart from 1st dealing with the idol of my heart—personal success. Though it wasn't wrong or unreasonable for me to desire that my work prosper, the problem lay in the fact that it'd become an ultimate thing— the key to all things good & satisfying. & because this is Christ’s sole position, this belief didn't go over so well. Now, when feelings of jealousy or anxiousness overwhelm me, I step back & see where they are leading. What is it that I desire so intently that's being threatened? Which of my functional gods is being compromised to the point of causing me this much stress? Why do I feel so inordinately strongly about something? What's the object of my affection filling in me that should be coming from God? I looked to people & things to deliver contentment and happiness. When someone else threatened those things, it triggered a jealousy that could only be cooled by the tearing down of the idol. It made little sense to deal with the jealousy without first dealing with the false god, given that the one fueled the other.
James is saying that the reason behind the fighting & jealousy among us is that we can’t get the things we think we need to be content. When someone else is standing in the way of those things, excessive bitterness & anger arise inside us. We become consumed by the need to salvage what's being taken away, especially if that thing is meeting a significant need in us. My dad's always been a great example of someone who rarely gets blindsided by jealousy. He’s never one to fight over things, money or status, he doesn’t meticulously guard his ego, he’s happy for those who have more than him, even if it’s been obtained unjustly. He just doesn’t get ruffled about things or threatening people. It’s because most everything he needs or wants he finds in God and his ability to provide. He implicitly trusts God in so many areas of his life that there’s not a lot that can be threatened, meaning there just aren’t a lot of idols lying around in his heart.
Much like jealousy, fear is a great sign pointing toward who or what we are placing our hope in. The same goes for anger. Anytime we feel the volcanic rise of anger, it’s vital to stop and ask the questions, “What’s being threatened here?” “What am I afraid I am going to lose?” “What goal of mine is being blocked?” “What’s so important that is causing me to explode or lose control?” Strong emotions like any of these are excellent reasons to look where the emotion is pointing. It doesn’t mean that a false god is always lurking, but it can mean that. I’ve found it essential to trace these overwhelming feelings & reactions back to their source. Because the onslaught of idols is so overwhelmingly, it’s easy to miss our reliance on them. It’s why I’ve made it a practice to ask the Lord to help me follow my unruly emotions to someone or something I might have made into an ultimate thing. Inordinate fear, anger, bitterness, jealousy, envy, sadness, & so on have been telling signs that have often led me straight to the far bigger issues of my life—the idols of my heart. As we make our way into a closer relationship with Christ, we must remember that He's not just God, but our God, & in order for us to experience Him as ours, we must trust He's there.
No other gods
“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:1–10)
Heart of the matter: Daily reflections for changing hearts and lives
Things like jealousy, anger, & fear, which I used to view as problems in themselves, were actually arrows that pointed to far bigger issues, the false gods of my heart. These emotions became the signs I learned to read, the ones that signaled that my deepest affections had been misplaced. Though it took me awhile to understand, this envy & subtle anger wasn't something I could merely turn off apart from 1st dealing with the idol of my heart—personal success. Though it wasn't wrong or unreasonable for me to desire that my work prosper, the problem lay in the fact that it'd become an ultimate thing— the key to all things good & satisfying. & because this is Christ’s sole position, this belief didn't go over so well. Now, when feelings of jealousy or anxiousness overwhelm me, I step back & see where they are leading. What is it that I desire so intently that's being threatened? Which of my functional gods is being compromised to the point of causing me this much stress? Why do I feel so inordinately strongly about something? What's the object of my affection filling in me that should be coming from God? I looked to people & things to deliver contentment and happiness. When someone else threatened those things, it triggered a jealousy that could only be cooled by the tearing down of the idol. It made little sense to deal with the jealousy without first dealing with the false god, given that the one fueled the other.
James is saying that the reason behind the fighting & jealousy among us is that we can’t get the things we think we need to be content. When someone else is standing in the way of those things, excessive bitterness & anger arise inside us. We become consumed by the need to salvage what's being taken away, especially if that thing is meeting a significant need in us. My dad's always been a great example of someone who rarely gets blindsided by jealousy. He’s never one to fight over things, money or status, he doesn’t meticulously guard his ego, he’s happy for those who have more than him, even if it’s been obtained unjustly. He just doesn’t get ruffled about things or threatening people. It’s because most everything he needs or wants he finds in God and his ability to provide. He implicitly trusts God in so many areas of his life that there’s not a lot that can be threatened, meaning there just aren’t a lot of idols lying around in his heart.
Much like jealousy, fear is a great sign pointing toward who or what we are placing our hope in. The same goes for anger. Anytime we feel the volcanic rise of anger, it’s vital to stop and ask the questions, “What’s being threatened here?” “What am I afraid I am going to lose?” “What goal of mine is being blocked?” “What’s so important that is causing me to explode or lose control?” Strong emotions like any of these are excellent reasons to look where the emotion is pointing. It doesn’t mean that a false god is always lurking, but it can mean that. I’ve found it essential to trace these overwhelming feelings & reactions back to their source. Because the onslaught of idols is so overwhelmingly, it’s easy to miss our reliance on them. It’s why I’ve made it a practice to ask the Lord to help me follow my unruly emotions to someone or something I might have made into an ultimate thing. Inordinate fear, anger, bitterness, jealousy, envy, sadness, & so on have been telling signs that have often led me straight to the far bigger issues of my life—the idols of my heart. As we make our way into a closer relationship with Christ, we must remember that He's not just God, but our God, & in order for us to experience Him as ours, we must trust He's there.
No other gods