Don't Make Me Angry

Bill Bixby used to utter the line at the beginning of each episode of 'The Incredible Hulk': "Don't make me angry, Mr. McGee, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." It's such a classic line that it is still, occasionally, paid homage to. The Bible says to be angry and sin not; anger in and of itself is not a sin, but most of us maintain our principles only with great difficulty (if at all) when angry.

What I really hate is when something that upset me greatly, some time ago, for whatever reason comes back to mind. I have had it happen that I will start thinking about an event that happened years ago, but that didn't work out the way it should have (at least in my own mind) and I can fell my blood pressure rise... Usually those things are situations that I know I could have handled better. Of course, they are also situations that if the other person had done what they were 'supposed to,' I wouldn't have had to handle the situation at all. Again, the Bible says that we should rather suffer ourselves to be defrauded, rather than to take action against a brother.

On the other hand, we shouldn't let a brother or sister continue in sin, either. Of course, if I have been sinned against, then it becomes personal; if I am angry about it, then I have a hard time approaching the person who wronged me in a spirit of meekness. I know that's what I have to do--but at that point, it's usually easier just to let it go (to suffer myself to be defrauded), to swallow the hurt and walk it off; even though, the brother or sister really needs to know that they may not be walking the straight and narrow. I also have to prayerfully consider whether I even have a right to be angry. Maybe sucking it up and moving on really is the right thing to do, but then I have to pray, not only for a forgiving spirit, but also to be forgiven for my presumptuousness.

And, in the line of being angry without a cause, I must admit that sometimes I get angry at God. Sometimes I want to hurt Him, but I know that whatever I do to hurt Him ultimately hurts me a whole lot worse. God may have already gotten tired of hearing me pray, "God, I'm mad at you. I probably don't have any right to be mad at you, but I am. I don't understand why this situation is turning out the way it is, but I know that you see the big picture, and I don't. I know that all things work together for good, but I don't see how this situation is going to help anybody." Of course, the word 'probably' in the above is really just an example of my own reluctance to accept responsibility, and, at the same time, an attempt to reconcile my knowledge that God has my best interests at heart, with my belief, at the time, that I was getting the short end of the stick. You know, it's funny, I remember praying that prayer several times, but, in retrospect, I don't remember what the reason was on even one occasion...