Welcome To The Rodeo: A biblical guide to staying in the saddle when life tries to buck you off

Welcome To The Rodeo: A biblical guide to staying in the saddle when life tries to buck you off


It’s Time to Rein in our Anger 8-16-2020

August 16, 2020

It’s time to rein in our anger 8-16-2020
It seems that nowadays everyone is filled with anger, not only do they brim with anger, they stay angry.  Social media is full of posts and tweets where people are calling each other names, folks are demanding that someone be fired for what they said, folks are using more and more profanity in their everyday language.  We seem to be on the verge of exploding, you can see violence erupting in almost every major city.  People don’t want to talk to each other, they want to yell at each other, it’s not about letting others have their opinion, if someone doesn’t agree with us we get mad at them.  Relationships are breaking up, people just don’t seem to have the patience we once had.  What is the deal, why is everyone so angry.
That’s what I want to look at today, angry people and anger in general.  What are some of the effects of anger? When we get angry, what should we avoid? Everyone gets angry at times, what can we do about it?
What are some of the effects of anger?
Anger is an emotion that most definitely takes a toll on us, physically, spiritually, and psychologically.  Think about what happens when you get really angry at somebody, quite often you shut down, you don’t want to have anything to do with that person.  In other words, it isolates us from others, as we read in Genesis 27:41-43, “So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”  Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you.  Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban!” I’ve seen cases where families were broken apart by anger, where one family member was so angry with another one that the family was split apart, sometimes permanently, but always at least for awhile.  People become isolated, alone, and often spend time stewing in their anger and that leads to another issue for us.
It creates some evil thoughts and motives in us and in its strongest form can lead to murder Genesis 4:1-12, Cain and Abel, “Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.” Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground.  Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering;  but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.  Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?  If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”  Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.  Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.  When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.”
It leads to conflict and arguments Proverbs 15:1, “A gentle answer turns away wrath,