subject: My Notifier- Anger [print this page] A blizzard had unleashed its white out fury just days before I was to present a To Love and Cherish Seminar in Arnold, Nebraska. The roads had just been plowed and were still barely passable. I was sure they would cancel the seminar. The hearty Nebraskan ranchers and farmers plowed their snow-drifted lanes and opened their narrow two-lane highways to travel. They also shoveled the walks around the host church. The first night attendance was unbelievably high.
Saturday morning, Linda and I began our precarious trek from our hosts farm to the church in town to begin the all-day seminar. Half-way down the snow-filled gravel road something happened. As we drove through two-foot drifts to reach the main highway to Arnold, the red lights on my dash board abruptly lit up. The power steering stopped working. I had to fight every turn. The power brakes failed. Because all the highway exit ramps had been plowed, they were blocked with snow; I had to keep going. A feeling of panic swept over me. The motor temperature began rising although it was freezing outside. The combination of red lights and poor performance said something was seriously wrong.
We barely made the ten-mile trek into town. As we pulled up to the church, the motor died. I popped open the hood. The motor area was packed with snow from driving through snowdrifts. I realized that the snow had caused the main belt that powers most everything to slip off its pulley. The red lights had been my first warning, my notifier that something was wrong.
Anger can serve the same function as the red light on the dashboard of the car. The so called "idiot light is designed to notify you of a problem that must be addressed, and addressed soon. Anger, like the idiot light, never fixes anything. Anger is another way of saying, "Hey! Notice my need. Like psychologist and author, Dr. Les Carter, would say, its an emotion that Aspeaks up for personal needs (p. 28). It is a God-given tool that signals something is not right and needs to change. Just as physical pain tells you to take your hand off the hot stove, emotional pain serves the same purpose.
If the red light of anger notifying you of hurt, fear or frustration is ignored, life will continue, but like my disabled car, with a less-than-desired quality of performance. In time, it will break down with very costly consequences. Psychiatrist and author, Dr. Paul Meier, feels that part of the cost of the improper handling of anger could cause up to 95% of psychological depressions. He is also convinced that just the fear of becoming aware of the anger that is held within is a primary cause of anxiety (p. 7). One of these relational consequences is conflict. Surprise! Even conflict can be as beneficial as anger.
The Psalmist used emotional pain to discover a need. He explains, Why are you cast down, O my soul: And why are you disquieted within me? (Ps. 42:5a). He does not beat himself up for feeling down in the dumps, but traces those feelings back to a need. In his case, he had lost hope in God and was having a trust crisis. His despair notified him of his need to restore his hope in God.
This is an excerpt from my e-book "God's Peace in Your Home". For more information on the book and how to get a free chapter, visit the link in the resource section!
