The sheikh of the clan expected it, could feel it coming. Some decision he made for the welfare of the whole family didn’t go as one of his nephews had hoped. The younger man came storming in and bellowed like a wounded buffalo in his frustration. His uncle sat impassively, simply absorbing the verbal abuse.
The anger was natural. It was unlikely to persist. Even if his nephew turned it into a permanent grudge, it didn’t change anything. And if the nephew turned it into a political intrigue to have him pulled from his role as family head, it was a good time to retire and let someone else put up with all the shit.
The sheikh was a good man who never really wanted the authority in the first place. It was endless headaches balancing the needs and demands of everyone in the clan. There was always two or three in ten jockeying for more of one thing or another. There was never enough for everyone to have what they really deserved or needed. And oh, how hard it was to explain to some that the energy they expended on one impossible thing could have fed their own household with extra left over to share.
There were different expressions he might wear at moments like this, sometimes bemused, sometimes gently waiting, sometimes a stony stare or just gazing blankly at whomever was throwing a fit. A raucous family with passions made for good fighters when things got tough, so he made sure his inflamed nephew could see he was paying attention. At the point when the younger man began repeating himself for the third of fourth time, he knew this thing was burning itself out, so he raised a hand. It was the standard gesture calling for silence.
The nephew sputtered and went silent when the two largish young guards shifted their weight a bit. “Is it my turn?” The sheikh had a sense of humor.
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Have you ever yelled in anger at God? I’ll give you hint: He portrays Himself in Scripture pretty much as the sheikh in the story above. The primary difference is that God can’t retire without all Creation dissolving into oblivion.
How does this contrast with the standard Western image of the grouchy old Norse deity? Westerners don’t even have a clue about manhood, much less of a loving God who sent His own Son to die on the Cross. His patience is not endless, but if you are held in the grip of a desire to know and please Him, it’s pretty hard to get Him angry back at you.
Instead, you waste a lot of time and energy that could have been used to gain more freedom from the Devil. You would hardly inconvenience God or hinder His plans. He’s quite willing to work around you if you insist, or He’ll simply get you to do His will without the sweet blessing of intentional service.
In Western mythology, it is a sin to even feel anger at God’s decisions. We have to hide the crazy false guilt from ourselves by inflating the anger into fury. We don’t even have a genuine anger. Try showing irritation at someone with authority who takes himself too seriously. He’ll pour out wrath on you for having the audacity to hold any independent thoughts in the first place, never mind the unthinkable gall to actually be anything but thrilled at your superior’s brilliant decisions. Westerners don’t know how to be men without castrating each other.
“Be angry and sin not” (Ephesians 4:26). Anger is just a feeling, but if you nurse it, the devil will own you. If you learn to read anger as a signal you have some unnecessary baggage, you’ll go looking for the cause and jettison things that don’t belong.
Amen.
I wonder if this is why there are so many atheists. They’re angry at God but don’t know how to deal with it so they decide He doesn’t exist rather than working it out with Him. Of course, their anger was misplaced to begin with but at least their way they get to keep their beloved baggage. People do love their baggage.
Good stuff Ed. Really good.
Thanks, Sister. It never ceases to amaze me how people simply assume our cultural mythology is the global human default, never mind reading it back into Scripture.