“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.”
– Psalm 37:7-8
Do you ever get upset, envious, frustrated, angry, or outraged because someone “bad” is succeeding, prospering, or seemingly “winning” in life, work, school, society, or politics? It’s OK to be honest… such anger is a NATURAL response to injustice. However, the message of the Bible is clear – if you count yourself among God’s people, you’re called to have a SUPERNATURAL response.
If you follow Jesus, you must get rid of your anger. Uncontrolled anger is a sin and God’s Spirit will help you overcome it. While you should absolutely work and advocate for justice, you must never do so in a way that’s driven by rage. Christians must not indulge our natural anger toward injustice because it reflects a lack of trust in God’s ultimate and perfect justice. We must not indulge our anger because it leads us into sin, evil, and injustice ourselves. When we unleash our anger we become what we despise and bring shame on the name of Christ.
As followers of the risen Jesus, we must always remember a few things: 1) We’re bad too. We’re saved only by God’s grace and not because of any virtue on our part. We have no right to indulge self-righteous anger toward injustice when we’re also unjust. 2) God’s justice will be done perfectly and eternally when He judges every sinner and saint in the end. This life is brief. Eternity is forever. 3) Evil may prosper for a limited time on earth but it will be punished forever in Hell. We don’t have the right to rush God’s timing.
Trust God. Wait patiently. Don’t let anger drive you into sin.