6 When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he burned with anger. 7 He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout Israel, proclaiming, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel.” Then the terror of the LORD fell on the people, and they turned out as one man. – I Sam 11:6-7
A group was coming against Israel and threatened to gouge out their eyes and submit to them or be destroyed. The leaders of Israel asked for permission to think about it. There was no thinking about it for Saul. God’s spirit filled him with . . . anger.
The spirit of God can fill us with anger?
If it is directed by the Holy Spirit and fuels the mission of God, directed anger has a place. We are not to act foolishly in our anger, it should be controlled and directed. Here, God used it to unite his people in the mission of fighting the enemy.
My anger is many times neither born of the spirit of directed toward mission. It is born of me and directed toward someone else who has not met my expectations. I rarely use anger correctly.
God, thanks for the reminder that your spirit can birth emotions in us that can direct us toward your cause. When anger flares up in me, please help me to know when it is from you or from me. Help me act accordingly.
[tags]devotions, 1 Samuel, anger, God [/tags]