I am sometimes shocked by how quickly other people get really angry by stuff that doesn’t really necessitate such an energy expenditure. I was waiting in a long line at the return desk at Home Depot, when a guy unwittingly cut in line. He didn’t notice that the line made a break at the entrance so entering shoppers could easily get in the store. Rather than apologizing for what we all saw was his innocent mistake, he threw a fit. Like a three-year-old who noticed his toy being played with by another, this fully-grown man proceeded to berate all of us in line for not winding the line outside! And his use of profanity was something to behold. The guy in front of him decided to get offended, and for a moment, I thought the two were going to be getting into a fight. Not only would this have been entertaining – both were too old and too out-of shape for fisticuffs – but I would have moved up in the line!
What a waste of energy for the guy who mistakenly entered the line in the wrong place! What a waste for the guy who bit at the bully’s provocation!
We all have our triggers, don’t we? One of mine is when people cut in the line of rush-hour traffic that has been slowly moving up toward Jameson Canyon off I-80. Mostly it’s just annoying. But a few times, such selfish driving turned into fatal accidents.
Maybe for you it’s people who talk really loud on their mobile phones while shopping. Or parents who bring their infants to a non-kid movie because “they won’t fuss” – but always do. How about people, who, with their windows rolled up, are generously sharing their music selection with everyone else on the road – you can hear them with your music on, with your windows rolled up, a block away (I’m sounding like my grandparents – am I getting old?). Or maybe it’s the know-it-all who never forgets to share his or her opinion. Or the soft-talker. Or the close-talker. Or the bully. Or the wimpy. Or the …
What trips you trigger?
But then there are things that really, really should anger us because they anger even God. Injustice. Extreme poverty. Prejudice. Starvation. Neglect. Death. AIDS. Cancer. Apathy. Hopelessness.
Jesus, on the day when all hope was lost, wept with a deep, angry weeping. Not anger directed at the people, but at the situation. Hope was lost. These people were so overcome by the death of Lazarus (John 11) that they couldn’t see anything else. But God hadn’t left. Life hadn’t left. This angered Jesus – this all-too-often state of our life experience. This stuff gets to the heart of God, and it brings about action.
Jesus, on that hopeless day, restored hope by raising Lazarus from the dead. Many people had their hope renewed – a hope in God that never needs to leave because God is always there.
What things around you – situations bigger than smokers clouding up open-air seating at Starbucks – what things of greater substance anger you? What is it that is so upsetting? What is really happening?
What are you going to do as a Jesus follower, as one filled with the Holy Spirit, to bring something different to a situation that needs God?
May you choose not to get so worked up by stuff that isn’t worth it. May you get even more worked about stuff that would cause a deep anger to well up within Jesus. May you weep out of such upset. And may you act in ways that changes the situation for the better.
1 comment:
It's interesting how so many of the things that make us angry have to do with driving our vehicles. Also, that when we focus on our needs and how wonderful we are - we are quick to get angry at others who don't recognize our magnificence.
Lastly, I had an explosion of anger the other day when I got a parking ticket. I was surprised how the ticket (which I deserved and was not that expensive -$20)erupted into such a list of all the things I felt unappreciated for and blah, blah , blah - that didn't even have to do with the ticket. I felt diffused after the incident but what a poor way to deal with my feelings.
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