Emotional Health and Jesus, Thursday Night Group, Week 2

GOT ANGER? (by Ken Mc)
What is it to get angry? From where inside of us does this feeling come from? Does it have a place in our lives, in our faith? Is it a part of a process? Could it be? And just what is its source? We learn at a very young age the power of anger, it can tell the world around us very clearly about what we are feeling and likewise the world can return the favor. It at times can have a place in the process of healing, as long as we move past it, as many times as we have to. It can also be a place that damages us, where we do not move through it and by not moving through it we stay attached to the person, place and situation that has hurt us.

And we’ve come to the source.

Anger does have a source and we all share in that source, the well of a past that isn’t perfect. And that past isn’t perfect because we aren’t perfect and neither is anyone else. And as we march along the timeline of our lives we run into each other and we cause hurt and that hurt causes more hurt and so on. So don’t exclude yourself from the storm of anger, you feel it, I feel it, we all feel it. We all feel it because we all feel hurt, disappointed, shame, guilt, rejection, the list goes on.

So where does faith, God, hope, love and me fit in? Where is the rhyme behind the mess that we all hope one day will work itself out in the end?

We must start always at “why?” Any feeling is a measure of what’s under the hood. If you are feeling angry, a situation has tapped into your imperfect past and tied itself to your source of anger. Your anger is pointing you to a place where you need to seek healing. It is ok to get angry. It isn’t ok to stay there, it is only a starting point. Having faith in the arena of emotions means taking those feelings to the quiet place where you and God can meet and He can heal you and that sometimes is just the start of the process. For example, I struggle with lust and all her sicknesses. This has caused a lot of suffering, shame and guilt in my life. Anger has been a feeling I have felt a lot. And it has all been brought on by myself. Or so I think. I have a past with scars so deep they are hard to find, we all do. Let me be honest here, you are reading words of a broken man and you may not care or it may make you uncomfortable or it may make you angry but it’s a part of my process a process I think is salvation. And we come by faith. It may not make a lot of sense but in a broken world anger can be the first steps to redemption. I found myself angry at women I never knew because a girl in my past moved in her hurt and caused me a lot of hurt. My anger pointed to the past and Jesus whispers underneath “come to me all you who are tired and heavy laden” The journey into our pain isn’t one to be taken lightly and we must go with our eyes on Jesus with a trust that only he can heal and change us from the inside. And from there we can become emotionally mature, from there we can change the world, from there we can love.

So, in small group form discuss:
Your anger...
What its source may behow can you begin walking into God’s hands through processing your hurt and anger (you may have just started)...