Anger
“I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my desires grew worse. My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue.”
Can you see yourself in the scriptures above? Visualize it. Someone has just done or said something that has resulted in anger boiling inside you. You tried to hold it back, you really tried. But the more you thought about it, the more you desired justice, the angrier you felt. The fire raged within you. Then it happened. You erupted like a volcano with your tongue. Psalm 39 is a vivid example of how Scripture describes the experience of Anger. Scripture is very familiar with Anger and it's vaccine: Humility (Prov. 3:34, James 4:6).
Anger reveals itself in one of two ways: revealed (blowing up and lashing out) or concealed (withdrawing affection, ignoring, quietly steaming and boiling). Anger is something we do, not something we have. It involves our behavior and emotions, but it also involves our motives and desires. Anger is an action taken against whatever evil/wrong we perceive, whether that moral judgement is accurate or inaccurate. Anger puts you in the seat of judge and jury. Typically, acting out anger results in many negative consequences like friends and family hiding or tip-toeing around you. Anger can also produce things you desire (perceived positive consequences) like peace and quiet (everyone flees the angry person).
God is, thankfully, not like us: He is “slow to anger” (Ex. 34:6) and “He does not deal with us according to our sins” (Ps. 103:10). Scripture speaks into the dark places of our heart and what the heart produces...even anger. The words of Scripture are honest, constructive, always loving and ultimately always for our good.