It’s Everywhere || Thought Provokers || Part 3

I am wrapping up tax season and am behind schedule. Instead of our regularly scheduled Manna for the Minds, enjoy an old youth series I created: “Thought Provokers”

Let’s talk about everyone’s favorite topic: anger! Okay, so I know it’s probably not anyone’s favorite topic, but it’s something we need to talk about. I want to answer the question: “Why do we have so much anger in today’s world?” I may have a really good answer for you today that looks at anger at its source.

James 4:1-2 says: “Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? They come from the selfish desires that make war inside you. You want things, but you do not have them. So you are ready to kill and are jealous of other people. But you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You do not get what you want because you do not ask God.

Point #1: Internal battles are among us.

Let’s look at James’s opening question: “Do you know where your fights and arguments come from?” There are some powerful Greek words that James uses here. For the word “fight,” he uses the Greek word “polemos.” “Polemos” means war. For the word “arguments,” he uses the Greek word “mache.” “Mache” is a verbal battle or fight. So, where do these wars and verbal fights come from? They come from the selfish desires that make war inside of us. The Greek word for desires is “hedone,” which means pleasure. These are our wants that come from what we want. We see that new PS5 or Xbox Series X and are tempted to buy it. The battle comes in and says: “Do I really want that? It’s $500, which is a lot of money. Plus, people are having trouble getting one. Everyone seems to like it though. I do need a new console.” We convince ourselves that we need it when in actuality, we’re just bored of all the Nintendo Switch games we’ve played over and over again. We lost that internal battle. Let’s make it more realistic.

Say you hear some juicy gossip about your best friend and how they cheated on their significant other. You feel shocked, confused, and intrigued all at the same time. You understand that spreading this news is wrong and you shouldn’t gossip, but you also need to tell others to help process it yourself. Do you say something? Do you go to your best friend knowing what you know? Do you wait for them to say something? There’s this internal battle that arises. We can’t decide whether to act on this temptation and spread gossip more or should you go to your best friend and check in on them. These types of internal battles are among us all the time, and the foundation of it builds on: Is it something that God wants for me or is it something that I want for me?

Point #2: God, the Provider, is Left in the Dust

You see others living their best life and feel bad about your own life. You’d kill for just a taste of that life, but you sit there and sulk because you can’t. Now these internal wars are raging on over what you need and don’t need, which leaves you overwhelmed, jealous, and depressed. This polemo comes back around in James 4:2. The battle of jealousy has joined the fight, but yet James tells us why this happened. He says that we don’t have these things because we haven’t asked God if it’s something we need. It’s not saying that we don’t have certain thing because our life sucks or because we don’t deserve it. It says we don’ get what we want because we don’t ask God. James, though, isn’t saying prayer guarantees our wish list, but that we often bypass God altogether, chasing desires without discernment. The ultimate Provider is waiting for you to tell him what you want, but he will decide if it’s what you need. You may have to even part ways with something to get what you need. God is generous in what he gives, but we have to wait on Him to tell us if we should have it or not. We may get declined, but only because God has bigger things for us. We leave God the provider in the dust because we just decided to yearn and be jealous over what we don’t believe to be worthy enough to go to God for.

Bottom Line

We believe that the anger source comes from the internal battles that take residence in us all our lives. These battles manifest into arguments, fights, and wars that cause frustration and jealousy in the public eye. We also have learned that we may not get what we want because we didn’t involve God in the decision. God is the Ultimate Provider, and we ultimately leave him when it comes to deciding what we want.