Isaiah 41:10 Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.
13 I am the Lord your God who takes hold your right hand,
and says to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
Definition of Fear: an unpleasant often strong emotioncaused by anticipation or awareness of danger
Do you have a friend or acquaintance who’s become increasingly angry or even downright hostile? Are there some subjects you completely avoid knowing that they’re triggers for your friend. Perhaps you even try to avoid interactions with the person so you won’t become the target of their rage.
It takes only watching a few minutes of the news or reading your social feed to know that there is a great deal of anger out there. Why the anger, the shouting, the burning and riots?
Aggressive anger stems from a desire for control: For control over a situation or people.
Prolonged release of the stress hormones (adrenaline, cortisol) that accompany anger can destroy neurons in areas of the brain associated with judgment and short-term memory, and weaken the immune system.
Two roots of anger are:
Fear
Blame and Shame
Fear leads to blaming and shaming.
Fear that finds no relief will start lashing out in perceived self-preservation: Anger!
At the beginning of the Bible we are shown how disobedience leads to shame, fear and anger.
The blame & shame tactic began when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. God confronts Adam and Eve and suddenly Adam bursts out in anger blaming God and Eve. Eve, in her shame then blames the serpent. Humans’ whole world has changed from living in sweet relationships in paradise to being cast out of the garden and condemned to a life of unrelenting work and mistrust. Adam and Eve were ashamed, insecure, and afraid.
Gen 3:8 – 13
Blame/shame: It’s far easier to blame than to take personal responsibility for one’s actions.
Lashing out in anger is often far easier than exercising self-control.
What was the source of their fear which lead to anger which lead to blaming? Sin!
Sin is the root of all fear, anger and violence! Sin is rebellion against God; it is the desire to be greedy for power and control instead of desiring relationship with God.
Instead of getting angry and blaming others, what would have been the right response?
Admit guilt
Repent
Trust God
Cain & Abel: Cain wanted to sacrifice his way. God even personally warned Cain not to sin! But Cain wanted to do things his way (sin).
His guilt made him insecure and fearful that Abel was getting favor from God which in turn made him angry.
Cain’s anger escalated into hatred, culminating in violence against Abel.
Repentance needs to be followed by Trusting God.
God even warned Cain against his sin. But Cain directed his perceived rejection into anger against Abel.
When our perception is limited and we can’t see the reality of a situation: When the disciples were crossing the stormy sea during the night and they thought they saw a ghost walking across the water towards them their perception caused them to be terrified.
Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Mark 6:50
Peter’s fear morphed into anger so he grabbed a sword, swinging it at the servant when the temple priests and guards arrested Jesus. Peter’s fear caused him to lose focus on the big picture which was to completely trust Jesus.
1John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment (Adam & Eve when they sinned)
When we sin admit our guilt, repent then trust God and His perfect love.
How do we counter the anger and hostility? Trust God, act in a manner that is obedient to Him (a quiet answer turns away wrath)
1 John 3:18 …let us not love with word or with tongue, but in action and truth. Sometimes it’s best not to say anything. Let our love in action speak for us.
Chris Laing shared that the need to admit, repent and trust form an acronym:
“ART”
When ART happens, God creates beauty from ashes!
Scotts Mills Friends Church 