Angry at Grace - Martin Wiles

The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him. Luke 15:28 NLT

Michael was angry at grace and God. 

But he hadn’t always been. He once loved going to church. Not that he had a choice. His parents made sure he was there every time the doors opened. At a young age, he accepted Christ as his Savior.

Somewhere along the line, however, Michael became an angry teenager. His walk away from Christ began with tobacco and led into alcohol abuse. Vandalism followed. He lashed out against churches, cracked open vehicles, and went on a string of destructive ventures. He was never apprehended by the police. Just too sly, I suppose. 

 

By the time Michael turned twenty-two, he’d calmed down a bit. All that remained of his prodigal childhood was the smoking. For some unknown reason, the convicting voice of God’s Spirit finally penetrated his hard shell. He listened, gave up his one final bad habit, and recommitted his life to God. 

 

God has used Michael’s ever since. God saved him twice: once from sin, and once from his sinful practices.

Some might get angry at God for forgiving and using Michael. He does, after all, have a sordid past and a bunch of baggage. The older brother in Jesus’ story probably would be one who’d object to God’s grace. He didn’t appreciate the fact that his father forgave his straying brother and welcomed him back home as if nothing had happened. Had he forgotten his son had requested his inheritance early and then blown it on wicked living? When his father asked him to join the “Welcome Home” party, he said, “No thanks!”

I’ll admit there have been times when I’ve thought God’s grace was unfair. Actually, it’s unfair all the time if we think about it. Were He fair, we’d all get what we deserved: unforgiveness and an eternity in a hot place. But He’s willing to forgive and forget all our sins if we only ask. 

And who am I to question His grace. After all, He’s God, He makes the rules, and He can love and forgive if He wants to. My job is to be more—rather than less—like Him. 

Don’t let God’s grace disturb you. Repentance unlocks the door to forgiveness—regardless of what a person has done. Things much worse than the prodigal and Michael ever thought about. 

Father, thank You for Your grace that covers all our sins. 

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Anger: 12 Things You Should Know Part 4 - Martin Wiles

Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool. Ecclesiastes 7:9 NLT

Homework, projects, and tests tested my patience. And his lackadaisical attitude frustrated me.

Unlike my daughter, my son had no affection for school. “Dad, I need help with my homework” meant, “Will you do it for me?” Projects were no different. He wanted me to do most of the work while he got the credit. Helping him study for tests taxed me excessively.

Although perfectly capable of mastering the material, his desire and initiative were absent—keeping the knowledge from seeping in and frustrating me when he couldn’t produce the answers. The thought of helping him with school assignments caused the anger emotion to flare even before we began.

Anger can be a bothersome emotion, causing all types of issues and leading to all manner of reactions. Knowing some facts helps us deal with it in a healthy way.

Fact 10: Anger can and will consume. Being consumed by healthy emotions such as love and kindness is good. The type of anger that consumes is likely against someone who has wronged us. We haven’t taken revenge . . . but we want to. But not wanting to confront them or do anything illegal, we choose to stew over the hurt. We repress and get depressed. Instead of dividing our minds, anger controls them. We have trouble thinking of anything else except the hurt.

Fact 11: Anger saddens God. Sin always disappoints and saddens God. Sin ruined the pristine world He created and the lives of the first two people He formed when they chose to disobey Him. What could have been wasn’t. What will be won’t for thousands of years. Uncontrolled and wrongly expressed anger is sin. Sin prevents God from using us as He wants. With this type of anger, we can’t realize His perfect and freeing plan for our lives.

Fact 12: Anger excites Satan. Any sin will do for Satan—sinful anger included. If he can convince us to justify our sin and live in it, he wins—temporarily. He knows sin will thwart or at least interfere with God's plan. When we regard sin in our hearts, God will not hear us—and we won’t hear Him. Anytime Satan can keep us from advancing God’s kingdom, he gets excited.

How can you process feelings of anger in a healthy way that promotes good?

Father, when Satan seeks to incite my anger, we ask You to replace it with love, kindness, and understanding. 

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Anger: 12 Things You Should Know Part 3 - Martin Wiles

Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back. Proverbs 29:11 NLT

He invited him into his office. His betrayer.  

Her confession came in the quietness of their bedroom. “I’ve betrayed you.” “Only once,” she said, but it had been more. Shock was Jerry’s first emotion. How could she? He was a well-known figure in their small town. Now, everyone would know his wife had been unfaithful. The church would call for his resignation, his profession would be scarred, and his family would have to move.

As Jerry pondered the future, another emotion bubbled: anger. What would he tell the kids? How would he break the news to their parents? What would he say to the person she confessed unfaithfulness with? He was a good friend and church member. After a cooling down period, Jerry chose to forgive him. Uncontrolled anger could have steered him in a different direction.

Anger can be a confusing emotion that propels us in different directions—some unhealthy. Knowing some facts helps deal with it healthily.

Fact 7: Anger affects relationships with God and others. Jerry’s relationship with a good friend was destroyed. Though he forgave, he couldn’t continue their friendship. They both moved on, and so did the betrayer.

Anger often leads to sinful actions. When we regard sin in our hearts, it affects our relationship with God. We can't hear Him clearly when we’re boiling over with anger. We’ll miss opportunities He sends our way.

Fact 8: Anger drives others away. I’ve known a few people in my lifetime who were angry continuously. One was a man I worked with after high school. Life had delivered some disappointing blows. Back surgery at an early age left him walking with a cane and unable to lift heavy items. Low paying jobs, financial struggles, and borrowing from one source to pay another were his norm. Although I remained his friend, many others avoided him because of his bitter spirit.

Fact 9: Anger leads to unwise decisions. The most unwise decision Jerry could have made would have been bodily harm to his wife and her conspirator. Had he let anger seethe in his gut, many other unwise decisions would have followed. Understanding God’s forgiveness of our offenses led Jerry to forgive and helped him avoid dangerous decisions.

When situations arise that anger you, ask God for wisdom to process the anger in healthy ways.

Father, enable me to handle my anger in ways that demonstrate Your love and forgiveness. 

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Anger: 12 Things You Should Know Part 2 - Martin Wiles

You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. James 1:19-20 NLT

He was living on the street, so they let him move in.

John hadn’t heard from his son in a while. Then, one day, his daughter informed John and his wife that their son was homeless. They made contact and invited him to live with them. But they established conditions since he had been living a rough lifestyle—including drug use.

Not fully trusting their son, John and Jenny didn’t give him a key to their house. One day, while they were at the grocery store, he called, wanting them to hurry home so he could get in. After subsequent calls from their son, John’s blood was raging by the time he arrived home. After a heated argument, he invited their son to leave. John’s anger cooled quickly, but the son’s took months. John wasn’t slow to speak, nor slow to get angry. 

Anger is an often-misunderstood emotion. Knowing some facts helps us deal with it in a healthy way.

Fact 4: Anger divides the mind. During the brief time John’s son lived with them, neither he nor his wife could focus on anything but their situation. They constantly worried about what he might do next. John and Jenny lived in a state of tension.

When anger preoccupies our minds, we can’t focus on spiritual things. Our nearness to God and our ability to hear His Spirit speaking to us diminishes. We can’t think about two things at once, so when anger has us dwelling on one thing, we’ll avoid everything else.

Fact 5: Anger steals focus. This aspect flows from the previous. Anger divides our minds, causing us to dwell on the situation that has angered us. Satan plays in our minds, keeping our thoughts focused on the person or circumstances. If he can keep us focused there, he can keep us from focusing on what God wants us to do.

Fact 6: Anger eats physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Our bodies aren’t compartmentalized. What eats at us emotionally—anger, in this case—will affect our physical well-being if we don’t process it quickly. And when we’re in emotional and physical turmoil, our spiritual lives will suffer. We may blame God, neglect God, or ignore God.

Ask God to help you be slow to speak and slow to get angry.

Father, when people or circumstances aggravate me, direct me to You for comfort and guidance rather than toward an angry spirit. 

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Anger: 12 Things You Should Know Part 1 - Martin Wiles

And don’t sin by letting anger gain control over you. Ephesians 5:26 NLT

Funny how quickly a pleasant morning can reverse itself.

Mom had rented a booth at the local flea market. We arrived early and began unloading our wares. The gentleman renting the space beside us was doing the same—only he placed some items on one of our tables. Since I hadn’t made my way back to where I needed to be with God, I informed the man of his mistake, using a few choice words. Silence followed my tirade. Either he didn’t hear me or chose to ignore this young whipper snapper. But Mom called me to the side and said, “You can’t talk to him like that. He’s a member of our church.”

Of all the emotions, anger is perhaps the most misunderstood. Knowing some facts about it can help.

Fact 1: Anger isn’t a sin.

Another translation of this same verse reads, Be angry and sin not. Anger is one of the natural emotions God created in the human makeup. When people wrong us or offend our families or friends—or when circumstances seem unfair—it’s natural for us to get angry.

Jesus was angered by the money changers who cheated the people coming to worship God. He was also angered by the religious elite, who misinterpreted the intent of God’s Word and placed the people under cumbersome rules.

Fact 2: Anger often leads to sinful acts.

Although anger is a natural emotion, it’s also volatile. Anger in and of itself isn’t a sin, but anger often leads to sinful actions. Mine did at the flea market. How we process anger is crucial. Righteous anger leads us to correct injustices through moral and godly avenues. It moves us to act, but the actions won’t be sinful.

Fact 3: No one can make us angry.

I’m guilty of saying, “He (or she) makes me angry,” or “That makes me so mad.” In reality, I choose to get angry. If someone can make me angry, they have power over me. And if that’s the case, I can blame them for my anger and the resulting actions and then justify them in my mind. But we can’t. Anger is our choice.

How can you process your anger in beneficial ways?

Father, when others or unpleasant circumstances anger me, show me how to process my actions in godly ways. 

Tweetable: Is anger controlling you? 

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Mad at Sin - Martin Wiles

I am overwhelmed with indignation, for my enemies have disregarded your words. Psalm 119:139 NLT

Listening to the evening news is enough to make anyone mad at sin.

A police officer who intentionally shoots and kills a man. A man who shoots his parents and then goes to a local business to kill his ex-girlfriend too. The woman who doesn’t want her child and discards her in the trash dumpster. Tons of pollution ascending into the air or descending into freshwater sources people drink. Radical religious sects beheading people just because they’re from another religious tradition. A local animal shelter displaying pictures of cats and dogs that have been severely abused by their owners. Especially the kittens and puppies that can’t fend for themselves.

In biblical times, the nation of Israel had any number of enemies who wanted to subdue her, rule over her, and steal her treasures. Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Syrians, Edomites, Philistines. They surrounded her with a web of evil and couldn’t wait to draw her in, roll her up, and administer the death sting. Like Goliath with David, they wanted to feed her flesh to the birds of the air.

Sin causes us anguish because it infringes on our rights, the rights of others, and on the good plan God has for his earth. While the earth itself has been affected by sin, it is the sinful people who live here that infest it with sinful practices.

But sin rather than the sinner is what must be the source of our anger. Jesus didn’t get mad at people per se; he got angry over the sinful deeds they committed. He loved criminals, prostitutes, thieves, the religious left, and the religious right. He extended to all the privilege of becoming his child and having their sinful actions and attitudes transformed into godly ones. And he still does.

Sin should anger us, but we should never get angry at the one sinning. Except for the grace of God, we might be walking in their shoes. 

Do you hate sin but love the sinner?

Prayer: Father, enable us to get angry over sin but at the same time to love the sinner. 

Tweetable: How do you express your anger at sin? 

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Healthy Anger - Martin Wiles

I am furious with the wicked, those who reject your law. Psalm 119:53 NLT

Healthy anger is not only possible but also beneficial.

No one has the power to make me mad, but they can create circumstances making the possibility greater. I get angry when I read of a parent who drives a vehicle into the lake to kill herself and her children. I get mad when someone steals something I’ve worked hard to get. If my boss ignores the hard work I’ve been doing for the last ten years and gives a promotion to some Johnny-come-lately, it frosts me. And if a doctor’s office turns my account over to a collection agency without sending me a bill, my anger flares.

Thinking of all the foolish things I’ve done or said because I was angry makes me wonder why God created this emotion. After all, if my body needs all the parts he put there, it must also need all the emotions. I’ve learned that I can live without some body parts—a gall bladder being one of them. As all my body parts have a particular function, so do my emotions—anger among them.

Of all the things I could but shouldn’t get mad about, wickedness is one. The psalmist didn’t hate the wicked but rather what resulted from their wickedness. Jesus felt the same when he cast the merchants out of one of the temple courts. They were cheating people and preventing foreigners from worshiping.

The only healthy anger is that which reacts against wickedness. As a believer, it should upset us when we see evil acts. Murder, theft, robbery, abuse, lying, etc. How we respond to such actions is just as important as the fact that they make us angry. Killing the unborn is reprehensible, but murdering the doctors who perform abortions is unacceptable.

Healthy anger will propel us toward legal and godly actions. And it will stir in us the need to act. Turning our heads to wickedness won’t make it go away. Repressed anger is dangerous, but so is accepting evil without acting.

When you witness wickedness, let your anger direct you to a godly response designed to bring about good.

Prayer: Father, guide us to healthy anger and godly responses when we witness evil around us. 

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Turning Away - Caroline Hales

Welcome to Walk-on Wednesday. By Hump Day, we are struggling, but we believe a good devotion can strengthen us to finish the week strong. 

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. Romans 12:19a NIV

My freshly cut lawn looked immaculate.

The grass boasted a deep green healthy appearance with a uniform blade height, except in one spot. The corner of the lawn, next to the asphalt driveway and roadside curb of our narrow street, had a deep, muddy tire track. My anger grew like a roaring fire each time I saw the cause. My busy neighbor across the road, who had no time to introduce himself, would back his pickup truck out of his driveway and into my driveway to get out. As he backed up, he would steer the truck right over the corner of the lawn as he maneuvered into the street.

The annoyance of continual damage resulted in my desire for vengeance. At one time, I thought if I made a board with nails for the truck to drive over, the situation might go away. I did not place a row of nails on my lawn. It could have made the situation worse. The truth is, retaliation does not demonstrate love for our neighbors. Vengeance belongs to the Lord.

God will one day rightly judge the acts of other people. We may not see immediate results from our prayers, but we can trust God will one day right all wrongs. God wants us to love others today.

Through much prayer and reading my Bible, I slowly developed more patience and love toward my neighbor. As I saw the truck back up, I would take a deep breath and turn away from looking at the unimportant small bare patch of lawn. God changed me. And one day a couple of years later, my neighbor moved.

Ask God to help you love your neighbors by turning away from unimportant irritants.

Tweetable: Is revenge eating at you? 

Caroline Hales is a Project Manager, a student at Dallas Theological Seminary, and a freelance writer. She has an adorable niece in California who teeters as she toddles. Caroline’s passion to share Christ with others has grown while she has served in church ministry, leading evangelism and women’s ministry. She lives in Ontario, Canada.

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Junk Food Addict - Martin Wiles

Don’t let me share in the delicacies of those who do wrong. Psalm 141:4 NLT

She was a junk food addict.

My paternal grandmother loved junk—and didn’t mind sharing with her first-born grandchild. When I was young, she fed me silver bells (Hershey Kisses) to keep me quiet in church. She loved Little Debbie’s, pies, cakes, chocolate, and candy. Anything sweet.

When my grandmother was in her mid-eighties and confined to the nursing home, the nurses fussed because my aunt brought her junk food. I told her to eat what she wanted. At her age, it wasn’t going to make any difference. And she did until the day she died.

My grandmother’s example rubbed off on me. By the time I reached adolescence, I had a healthy appetite for junk food. Canned chili and beans, frozen pizza, Little Debbie’s, chocolate bars, silver bells, cakes, pies, candy. And my favorite? Barbecue potato chips.

Along about thirty-eight, my bad eating habits caught up with me. Not in health problems, but in weight gain. I also worried about future health issues if I didn’t change my eating habits. While I didn’t completely eliminate junk food from my diet, I did cut back, and I also began an exercise regimen. But occasionally … once a week on my cheat day … I still sit down with a bag of chips and a tall glass of milk. 

Evidently, I’m not the only one who eats unhealthy or doesn’t exercise enough. According to recent research, Americans are more obese than they’ve ever been. To the tune of 100 million people (March 2018 http://www.grubstreet.com/2018/03/americas-obesity-rate-hits-record-high.html.

As unhealthy as bad diets and low exercise rates are, something worse exists. According to the psalmist, it’s the delicacies of the wicked. Bad spiritual food. Crime. Stinking attitudes. Cursing. Anger. Unforgiveness. Selfishness. Misplaced priorities. Unbelief.

Anything that takes my interest away from loving God with all my heart and serving Him with the same is spiritual junk food and damages my spiritual health. Just as I had to take the initiative to curtail junk food from my diet and to exercise for good health, I have to do the same with my spiritual diet.

No one can force us to eat the right spiritual foods. Doing so is a choice we have to make, but one with far-reaching effects.

Don’t be a spiritual junk food addict. Digest the right stuff, and enjoy the life God created you to have.

Prayer: Father, hone our taste buds for the food that will satisfy our hunger presently and eternally.

Tweetable: What kind of addict are you?

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Love over Anger - Martin Wiles

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Psalm 30:5 NLT

Pain may be my friend, but when it comes in the form of a needle I want nothing to do with it.

Shots taken when I was a youngster I had no choice in. When the decision became mine, I avoided them if possible—even though they had advantages. Like the one I took shortly after beginning college. I had developed an unexplainable rash. The doctor attributed it to anxiety over a new situation and a new residence. Before I knew what happened, he jabbed a needle in my hip. Had I not lain down voluntarily, I would have soon lain down involuntarily.

When I worked in the public school system, testing for TB was mandatory. This involved placing a needle under my skin. I sat still, endured the pain, and made it through without passing out. Presently, I work around hundreds of kids five days each week. 

Once a year in the fall, a local doctor offers flu shots to school employees. Since my contract doesn’t require getting one—and since I still detest needles—I politely decline the offer.

The psalmist understood pain as well—the type that arrived when God’s anger flared up. Fortunately, joy came in the morning after he endured His anger.

God’s anger produces pain. His anger originates over sin. He’s not mad at me, per se, but He does detest my sinful practices. Sin separates me from Him. 

Holiness characterizes His nature, and He cannot associate with sin. God hates the sin, but not the sinner. The same thing He wants me to do. A practice some characterize as impossible, but it’s not.

Because my sin pains God, He sends discomfort my way so I’ll do something about my evil practices. He designs His agony in such a way that it should bring repentance and confession from me. If it does, the pain goes away. If not, the pain hangs around. Not because God is mean and enjoys watching me suffer, but because He knows a life of sin is detrimental for me.

God wants His anger to be short-lived. I like it that way too. His anger is uncomfortable. Pain comes anytime I’m separated from my Creator to any degree. When we confess our wrongdoings, God’s anger disappears as quickly as it came.

Turn the tide of God’s anger. Confess quickly and experience His joy in the morning.

Tweetable: Are you experiencing God's love or wrath?

Prayer: Father, while we understand Your anger, we’d rather experience Your joy. We confess our sins and receive it today. 

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