More on Anger

 

          Hubby and I were driving home the other day when the car in front of us kicked up a rock which hit our vehicle. A beautiful, though quite distressing, star appeared on our windshield.

          Hubby spewed out a profanity to describe the other driver, blaming them entirely for something that wasn't their fault.

          As far as myself, I had a moment of anger which quickly turned to worry. How much is this going to cost us? When is it going to get fixed? Can they use that glue stuff to stop it from spreading? Where are we going to take it?

          In my Sunday blog post, I wrote about Jesus becoming angry and even destructive when He entered the Temple. But His anger was not a sin.

          So what about my husband and I in the car that day?

          Clearly, Hubby's loss of control was a sin. He didn't use the Lord's name in vain, but surely God would frown on his language. Hubby also berated another person. Okay, it was far from breaking the fifth commandment – though shall not kill – but we aren't to even wish bad things on others. And according to the eighth commandment, we aren't to speak badly of them either.

          And me? I felt no anger towards the other driver; I blamed it all on the rock and being at the wrong place at the wrong time. But then what happened in my head? Worry.

          But certainly, worry isn't a sin. Is it?

          The very first commandment says that we are to have no other gods, and Martin Luther's take on that is that we should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Every time we worry about something, we are telling God that we don't trust Him, that we aren't sure He is going to take care of things for us.

          Or as Matthew wrote: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6:25-27, New International Version)

          But if even worrying is a sin, what are we to do? We can never be good enough to be children of God or make it to heaven. That is what this time of year is all about - following Jesus to the cross and waking up on Easter morning knowing that He has overcome all of our sins.

After taking 2 dozen pictures, inside and out, this was the best I could get of that crack in my windshield. In real life, it really is a cute and annoying little star.