“4Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.” — Psalm 4:4 (ESV)
There is a part of me and likely everyone that when anger comes on, there is the tendency to lash out and let it be known that the wrong has occurred. Am I wrong for having this tendency? I do not believe I am wrong. Humans are emotional beings and we are will lead with emotion in many if not all situations. The thing is that it is not in our or others best interest to allow emotion to take over.
Anger is a very powerful emotion and it should not be ignored. Even God has instances of anger with sin. I believe it is important to “get it out” so that I can somehow begin to deal in rational terms as opposed to the irrational.
In my work as a corporate trainer, I work with customer facing employees that are exposed to situations where the person they are working with are not the happiest of individuals. The people tend to lash out when things are not going their way and frankly I do not blame the employees for getting angry and wanting to defend themselves against attack, as I am sure that you would want to as well. The thing is, anger on both sides does little if anything to help the situation. Things will simply continue to escalate and no one will be heard as both are only listening to the sounds of their own voice.
Look again at verse four in Psalm 4 above. After the first two words, notice the approach that is recommended, do not sin, ponder things, and be silent. All of those recommendations are acts in control and rational thought. Without the rational, things only get worse. I have to be the one to begin the rational when I find myself angry.
Have you ever witnessed the angry person give up on their anger once they are heard. It is important to “get it out”, the trick is to not in front of the other person. Being angry is natural and you can see in verse four above that it is okay. What is done next is where the impact is made. Remember that we are to work on the problem and not the person. Be angry with what happened and work to fix it as opposed to fixing the person. Silence in the face of my anger will go a long way to resolving and avoiding any additional escalation.
How is it that you react when you are faced with something that makes you angry? Are you allowing the emotion to take over and acting on the desire to lash out? What if you took a beat and sat back to avoid sinning, ponder the situation, and be silent?
Trevor's Thoughts 