Anger is a natural emotion. I have talked with some who believe that if they are angry, they are somehow not in the grace of God or even that being angry itself is a sin. Being or feeling angry is not inherently sinful; how we respond to it can either honor God or lead us away from Him. As human beings, when we get angry, we can feel overwhelmed or out of control. While God understands anger, He wants to help us navigate our anger without falling into sin.
I have been struggling with being angry at God for a while now. I am wrestling with the Lord on understanding certain things about how my life is progressing. The loneliness I have been experiencing for some time is bringing resentment, and resentment is causing me to be angry, not only at God but at myself. Recently spending time with the Lord, He simply said, “Be angry but do not sin.” My first thought was, “Was I planning to sin?” remembering that the Lord sees the heart and knows things before we know. I took the word to read Ephesians 4. Verse 26 says, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,” but I was drawn to verses 17-24.
“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
These verses sat heavy on me; as I was thinking about them, I had to admit that some areas of my life felt like I was slipping into my old self. This was quite humbling. I knew at that point I really needed to sit with the Lord and let Him show me what was really going on. Proverbs 14:29 says, “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but whoever has a hasty temper exalts folly.” While God understands our anger, He still calls us to have self-control. Later, Ephesians says, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger…” it’s not that we suppress our emotions but rather manage them with the Lord. At some point, I had stopped managing the anger and was letting it fester. God’s understanding isn’t just a passing acknowledgment but a deep, compassionate awareness of what we’re going through. He doesn’t dismiss our feelings but instead offers us wisdom for dealing with them. The experience with the Lord reminded me that even in my lack of prayer time and lack of seeking the Lord as I really should have, He had not left me; He was still there to help in my frustration and protect me. He offers guidance, strength, and wisdom needed to honor Him so we can stay grounded in His love.
(Ephesians 4:26 ESV) Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
