Every now and then, something that someone says or does can make us angry. Really angry. It’s just a fact of life. But it’s what we do with that anger, how we handle it, that makes all the difference.

All right, let’s get going then. So, have you thought about it. How much is your anger robbing you of living an extraordinary life? Well? Anger is something different to annoyance. We can be annoyed by little things and some people, very sadly, live much of their lives in that constant state of annoyance. It’s something you may have heard me talk about recently on this program.

Anger is a much bigger thing. When there’s a fly buzzing around your face and you swat it and it keeps coming back, that’s something you might find annoying. But let’s imagine for a moment that someone says something nasty about you. Or someone consistently fails to meet your expectations of honesty and loyalty. Or someone speaks lies about you behind your back. There’s every chance that those things are going to make you angry. Right?

When was the last time that you were angry? Maybe you’re angry now or it happened earlier today, or just yesterday. With the way the world is it’s probably not that long ago. Can you remember how you felt? It comes on quickly, doesn’t it? It kind of rises up within you; sometimes you want to shout or hit out; sometimes we just want to glare the person down. Above all we want recompense, we want an apology and sometimes, even, revenge.

Anger is a complicated emotion. And so often when we experience anger we make some stupid decisions. We say something or we do something that destroys a relationship or hurts someone – sometimes ourselves, sometimes other people. Which is why when a husband and wife are having an argument for instance, neither of them should ever say something that they can’t take back. ‘I hate you! I wished I had never met you!’ Things like that can do permanent damage to a relationship.

Okay, back to the last time you were angry. Can you still remember it? Now, here’s my question: how long were you angry with that particular person? Was it just a minute or two before you calmed down? Five or ten minutes, maybe? A half-an-hour or an hour, a day? Overnight perhaps? A week or two weeks? Are you still angry with them? I know people who’ve been angry with each other for years and literally haven’t spoken to one another for all that time because somehow they couldn’t let go of their anger.

Right now on the program we’re in the middle of a series of messages that I’ve called, ‘The Art of Living’ and it’s all about how to live an extraordinary life. Each one of us is such an amazing creation. Each person I’ve ever met has these talents, sometimes hidden talents; abilities; things to offer. It’s just not hard for me to imagine that there is a creator and it’s not hard for me to imagine that He wants us to live extraordinary lives. And that in a sense is why we’re chatting today about anger because anger robs so many people of living that extraordinary life.

The fullest most horrific conclusion of unbridled anger is of course murder. Jesus said, “Murder begins in the heart.” Anger is something that happens deep down in our hearts and unless we learn to control it, we can end up doing some terribly destructive things. There are many people whose marriages, whose families, whose careers are lying on the scrapheap right now because they didn’t learn to control anger.

I’m sure you probably know one or two people like that yourself. So there are two aspects of anger that we’re going to chat about briefly today: how quickly it happens; and how long it takes to get over it.

First of all – how quickly. Remember, earlier I said that anger can rise up very quickly indeed, especially if that person is already done something before to make us angry; especially if that person has perhaps hurt us or in someway dishonoured us in the past. I want to encourage you today to be someone who is slow to anger. This God I mentioned earlier today, the one who sent Jesus His Son to die to pay for my sins and yours, well His Word, the Bible, says this about God’s anger. Psalm 103 verse 8:

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

See, God get’s angry but He’s slow to anger because He’s abounding in steadfast love. Love is the key. Caring deeply for other people is the key. If we can become servant-hearted then we can show mercy and grace. I happen to believe that there is a God and that you and I are created by Him in His image and so it makes absolute sense that we should be like Him: slow to anger, full of steadfast love and prepared to show mercy.

Can I ask you? When you do something stupid, something that with the wisdom of hindsight you know was wrong, as we all do, don’t we? We would like other people to cut you some slack, show you some mercy, be gracious to forgive you quickly? Well, of course you would. Me too. And that’s how we should be; slow to anger and full of mercy and grace. When that’s how we live our lives, we become angry far less often. We accept the limitations that other people have, we even compensate for them instead of getting angry.

And the second part of anger that I want to chat about right now is how long we stay angry because that’s a huge issue. The quicker we get over it, the quicker we forgive, a the quicker we move on, the less destructive our anger is going to be. So, how does God handle it? Let’s have a look at the very next verse in that same Psalm in the Old Testament. It says this about God’s anger. Psalm 103 beginning at verse 9:

He won’t always accuse nor will He will keep His anger forever. He doesn’t deal with us according to our sins nor does He repay according to our iniquities.

In other words, God gets over His anger quickly instead of hanging on to it, He doesn’t pay us back. So how do we minimise the damage that anger can do. Well, here it is again:

Be slow to get angry, and when you do, get over it quickly.

It’s not bad, is it? And what is it that allows God to behave that way? Again it comes back to this one simple thing. The next few verses of this same Psalm verses 11-17:

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love towards those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far He removes our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear Him. He knows how we are made; He remembers that we are dust.

As for mortals, our days pass like the grass; we flourish like a flower in the field then the wind passes over and we’re gone. The place knows us no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting for those who fear Him.

And it’s that one simple thing – His steadfast, His rock-solid love, a love that goes on and on and on. Let me ask you, is that a love that you’ve experienced? Because if it is imagine asking God to give you the power to show that same kind of love to those around you. The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.