Day 102/365- 1 Samuel 11:6

"Be Angry!"

Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he became very angry. (1 Samuel 11:6 NLT)

I'm pretty sure this is the only place in the Bible where the Spirit of God is mentioned with anger. We typically don't see the two going together. In fact, anger is not one of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5. Actually, gentleness & self-control are, which are pretty much polar opposites of anger. So, how can the Spirit of God come upon Saul & the result be anger? Did he become angry in his flesh before the Spirit came upon him? I don't think so. Actually, I think it was the Spirit that gave him the clarity to be angry.

See, the people of God were being sorely mistreated & oppressed by their enemies. Last time I checked, oppression of the innocent was something we should get angry about. In fact, Jesus got angry about injustice as well. Jesus came angry into the temple to overturn the tables of the money-changers. He did it because they were making the house of God a place to steal & cheat people instead of it being a refuge for the nations. God takes his worship & name serious! Jesus was very angry about this & for good reason! And if the sinless Son of God gets angry, it shows us something about anger. Anger in & of itself is not wrong. The Bible says, "Be angry & sin not (Ephesians 4:26)." Actually, could it be that at times the lack of anger is sin against God? When we turn a blind eye to the oppression & suffering of people & don't want to bother our conscience, aren't we acting in a way that is anti-Christ?

Saul & Jesus both did something about their anger. They didn't just stop with anger. Their righteous anger moved them to action. Saul went to battle, Jesus cleared the temple. Both acted in accordance to the Spirit of God. Both acted & felt what is consistent with the character of God. Both were filled with holy anger & godly action.

Many times we are angry. We even get angry about the right things. But how many times does that anger lead to a Facebook post but not much else? How many times has it led to volunteering, advocating for a people or cause, changing our behavior, giving money, moving to another context, etc.? Being angry is a start but it's not the end! It must lead us to action!

What injustice against God or man makes you angry? Or better yet, what doesn't that should? What should we be angry about & more so, what are we going to do about it!?

*Disclaimer: this does not give you the right to be a jerk.