Anger

Earlier this month I wrote a post revolving around the question of what breaks your heart. In the past few days, I've been thinking a lot about another question that forces me to look deeply into my own heart - what makes me angry? Just as the things that break our hearts reveal a lot about us and our God-given passions, so do the triggers for our anger.

Now, I am not talking about the day to day things that frustrate us like horrible drivers, long lines at the grocery store, or the ref making a bad call. I'm talking about a righteous anger that we should feel when faced with injustice, needless pain, our failings, and the hurt in this world. This is the kind of anger that David exhibited in the Psalms, Isaiah declared to his failing nation, and Jesus felt towards the money-changers.

I am learning this month that my heart breaks for the people in this world without access to clean water. But, I am angry about the lack of response from those of us who could make a difference. Bringing clean water to the world isn't an impossible goal. It's amazingly doable and so simple. The fact that we are doing precious little to achieve this goal is what maddens me.

Of course, maybe the water problem doesn't make you angry. Maybe it is orphaned children, or human trafficking, or homelessness, or AIDS victims, or some other injustice. Whatever it is, I challenge you to get mad enough about it that you do something to become part of the solution to the problem.

None of these problems are ever going to better until we decide we are going to make them better.