I checked some statistics this morning. I found out that in 2005 over 16,000.00 Americans were murdered - yes you heard me right, sixteen thousand. After doing some more investigating I found that the number was similar in previous years and that when authorities were able to find out cause or motive they found that nearly 75% of the murder victims new or were acquainted with the person who murdered them and that the problems began with an argument. Yes, the murder was a result of anger that was out of control or rage that went unchecked.
You don't have to check the murder rate to suspect that something is off in this world. In fact, most often we need to look no further than our own hearts and the mistrust, anger, frustration that is breeding there. You wonder yourself sometimes, 'why am I so angry all the time.' Or, 'why did I 'blow' up like that again? Others of us wonder this not about ourselves, but about people we dearly love who are bitter, angry, frustrated and seem to have no end in sight. Well, if you have struggled with anger (as I have!!) or know those who do, then this Sunday is tailor made for you and God is ready to get control in a way that perhaps even today you do not even believe is possible!
The truth of the matter is that anger is a God given emotional response designed to move us forward in life. However, our experience with anger is often very different from God's desire. We often experience anger as an emotion that is either over exploited and acted upon or under used and ignored (tile it 'festers') in most of our lives. Some of us explode at the drop of a hat or can 'go off' often without any justifiable cause. Others of us, however, live in a 'comatose state of oblivion' where nothing bothers us and anger is never identified and or recognized in life. Wherever you or I may be, neither of these move us closer to Christ and His Kingdom or those relationships He has given us in life!
As I continue my Sunday series this weekend entitled, Making the Most of Our Life! I am going to focus in particularly on Anger and seek God's Word for some guidance on How we can make the Most of our Anger in this life! I am going to break our topic down into three main questions that I will try to answer. First, 'What is Anger?' The second question, 'Why am I so angry?' And the third questions is, 'Where will my anger take me?' I truly believe that God has a special word for you this weekend - whether you think you have an anger problem or not, this will be a time for you to come under the authority of God's Word and seek His will for your life. For surely you know people with an anger problem or you are impacted by a world that so often tends to gravitate toward anger rather than one that gravitates toward peace.
If you want to Make the Most of Your Life, then the place to start is by looking at your Anger and whether or not you are expressing it as God intends and then submitting to his control as you move closer toward Him!
Pastor Biz
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