Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
May 3, 2020 - W2018

Overcoming the Giant of Anger

Killing Giants God’s Way

Pastor Wayne Cordeiro

May 2 & 3, 2020

Welcome, New Hope—everywhere and anywhere!  I'm so glad you're joining us as we continue this shelter?in?place season. Many are dealing with job loss, income drop, health struggles, not being able to see loved ones, and something called, shortening of tempers:  angry at the virus, the government, the whole world—and we take it out on one another. Isn't that true?  

Before we begin, I feel a need to encourage you that every problem that you will ever face has already been faced by somebody in the Bible—and they've left clues behind for us to follow!

1 Corinthians 10:11 NLT says: “These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.” 

All that is written in the Bible are actually written for you and me, and God has a message for each of us today! David will again be our example, but this time, a lady named Abigail is included, as she's about to help him save not only the lives of others, but probably his own life and future, as she gives him (and us) some timely advice on Overcoming the Giant of Anger!

The truth is a lot of times we don't even know what we're angry about.  We just know there's a low-grade anger that follows us around like a gray cloud, and we live on the edge. Some years ago, when a man and his parents were on their way home from church, a tragic accident occurred and both parents died, and he barely survived.  I later discovered that he had become an alcoholic, deeply involved in drugs, and had landed in prison.  

Years later, as he was unpacking all the stuff in his life, he realized that his problems started when his parents were killed. He then became angry at God, angry at his parents for leaving him, and angry at himself that he didn't die with them.  His anger began spilling over like acid on to everyone he came in contact with. And, now, he can’t receive his healing or stop taking drugs until he first deals with the root cause of his problem—anger! 

Anger is simply a strong emotion of being annoyed or displeased about something. The destructive part of anger is when anger is uncontrolled and escalates into rage, fury, hate, resentment, revenge, destructive words, and deplorable actions.

Anger is just one letter away from danger! The letter D could represent when the devil gets you to feel righteous about doing something unrighteous! That is exactly where we find David. He is hiding in the hills south of Bethlehem, looking over his shoulder staying out of the reach of King Saul, who is still hot on his trail!  There is a very wealthy man named Nabal shearing his sheep. During this week-long celebration, people would give gifts of food and drink to their neighbors, so David sends some of his men to Nabal to get his share of the bounty. David's men act as security guards in the area, so he thought this would be a good time to share in some of the goodwill.

David’s men talk to Nabal, but he bullies them, gives them a tongue lashing, and sends them away with curses for David! The men tell David what Nabal said, and David flies into a rage and orders 400 of his men to start a march to kill them all!  Here's David’s battle speech:

1 Samuel 25:21-22 NIV says: “²¹ David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. ²² May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!”

Nabal has a wife named Abigail—she is the example that David will leave for us!  One of her servants sees what is going on and rides over to Abigail and tells her what just happened, that David is on his way with 400 men to kill Nabal and all his men!  The Bible says, Abigail immediately moves into action and prepares 200 loaves of bread, five dressed sheep, a barrel of roasted grain, hundred cakes of raisins, and 200 cakes of pressed figs.  She loads them on donkeys to intercept David and his men.  When she arrives, Abigail immediately bows her face to the ground and takes the blame! 

1 Samuel 25:24-25 NLT says: “²⁴ She fell at his feet and said, “I accept all blame in this matter, my lord. Please listen to what I have to say. ²⁵ I know Nabal is a wicked and ill-tempered man; please don’t pay any attention to him. He is a fool, just as his name suggests. But I never even saw the young men you sent.”

She asks forgiveness, even though she didn't violate anybody.  Interestingly, she knew that she needed to tame the heart of David with forgiveness.  Regardless of who was at fault, she just needed to deploy forgiveness.  Uncontrolled anger is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.  It doesn't work!

OVERCOMING THE GIANT OF ANGER 

Alvin Toffler, author of the book Future Shock, wrote: “Those who will be the literates of the 21st century will not be those who can read or write, it will be those who can learn, unlearn, then relearn!”

1. Learn to Practice Forgiving  

The first principle in Overcoming the Giant of Anger is to learn to practice forgiving before the battle begins! Forgiving doesn't come easily; you’re not born with it; you must build it and practice it—it’s a skill!  Start by forgiving the easy stuff first: When someone forgets to greet you, forgive—it’s no big deal! When you don't get served first, it's not a big deal—forgive!  In life, we’ll face people problems and negative events, so practice forgiving as a part of your everyday life! One day, you will need to forgive the big ones; and if you haven't learned to forgive the small ones, it will be a train wreck when life throws you a curve ball!

Abigail saved David from sinning when she helped him rethink his initial reaction, which would have been devastating.  Thank God for people like Abigail!  I call them “lightning rods.”  They'll ground your anger and disappointment and help you rethink your response.  

2. Learn to Unlearn 

We have habits that must be unlearned. Things that worked in the past are not working today.  Anger is something we learn along the way, and when something happens to us, everything goes off, and we have a low?grade anger that follows us around.  Solomon reminds us in:

Proverbs 22:24-25 NIV: “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways   and get yourself ensnared.”

In the past, we learned a pattern of anger that is now working against us: it steals our potential friendships, ruins our marriage, robs our future, causes irreparable damage, drives people away, breaks up family, and separates people. But, here's the good news!  If an angry disposition is something we learned, it can be unlearned!  How do you unlearn?

You must first see the devastating effects of anger and fight it like the plague!  Anger leads to many addictions because it gives power to blame and rationalizes hate.  It authorizes vengeance!  

Some people say, "I just can't stop myself when I get angry."  Sure, you can.  "No, no, I can't.  It just takes ahold of me."  You can. Let me prove it.  Let's say you're having a problem with one of your kids and you're angry and yelling at him.  The phone rings and your other child says, "Mom," "What!?"  "It's the pastor."  You pick up the phone and sweetly say:  "Praise the Lord.  Oh, God is good.  All the time, all the time God is good."  Isn't that right?  You can go from rage to praise the Lord, and we do it all the time!  You make the choice.  

In many of the Psalms you can hear David venting before God; then something changes. I just love how the Bible shows us men and women in their raw, unedited versions of themselves because many times, we are right there too!  

Clues from David on Overcoming the Giant of Anger.  David is running from Saul and pens his first draft in:  

Psalm 109:8-10 NKJV says: “⁸ Let his days be few and let another take his office. ⁹ Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow. ¹⁰ Let his children continually be vagabonds and beg.”

But later his second draft reveals that he may be seeing things as he should, and you can almost hear him sighing and admitting in… 

Psalm 109:22 NASB: For I am afflicted and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.”

He finishes his second draft in:  Psalm 109:28-31 NASB says, “²⁸ Let them curse, but You bless…But Your servant shall be glad. ³⁰ With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the Lord; And in the midst of many I will praise Him. ³¹ For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul.”

Have you been living as a first draft person?  Do you send the first draft of your words, actions, thoughts, then go to war and suffer regret the rest of your days?  Maybe you could unlearn that and learn a new normal—a better normal would be to become a second draft person!  First drafts are normal, even human; but second draft people are divine.  That's what separates those who miss life from those who tap into life.  Don't take too long to get to your second draft. Paul says in Ephesians 4:26 RSV: “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,”

Pour your heart out before God alone, He can take it—people cannot! The sooner we do that, the sooner we get to our second draft. David learned at an early age to go to the Lord in times of distress and vented before Him.  He knew that there was only one that could give him comfort, and no one else could relieve him from his distresses. There will be two pains in life:  The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.  You choose whether you are a first or a second draft person.

3. Learn to Relearn 

Determine once and for all who will be your Lord—the one who determines your disposition, controls your actions, words, and demeanor. 

We can learn from Abigail. 1 Samuel 25:28-31 NLT says: “²⁸ Please forgive your handmaid… (notice the switch) The Lord will surely reward you, ³¹ Don’t let this be a blemish on your record. Then your conscience won’t have to bear the staggering burden of needless bloodshed and vengeance.”

Abigail reminds David, “The Lord will reward you.”  But at that point, David is so angry at Nabal that he is going to kill him! Nabal is now controlling David and determining whether he would be a wise or an unwise leader, a peacemaker or a blood-shedder. Determine who will be your Lord, so that the Giant of Anger won't have a chance to diminish your life or future! Choose Jesus as your Lord! 

FOR DISCUSSION:

Share your experience of Overcoming the Giant of Anger in your life. How did you overcome it? What was the trigger that caused the anger? How did you unlearn that behavior? Testify and become an Overcomer!

Overcoming the Giant of Anger

Killing Giants God’s Way

Pastor Wayne Cordeiro

May 2 & 3, 2020

Welcome, New Hope—everywhere and anywhere!  I'm so glad you're joining us as we continue this shelter?in?placeseason. Many are dealing with job loss, income drop, health struggles, not being able to see loved ones, and something called, shortening of tempers:  angry at the virus, the government, the whole world—and we take it out on one another. Isn't that true?  

Before we begin, I feel a need to encourage you that every problem that you will ever face has already been faced by somebody in the Bible—and they've left clues behind for us to follow!

1 Corinthians 10:11 NLT says: “These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”

All that is written in the Bible are actually written for you and me, and God has a message for each of us today! David will again be our example, but this time, a lady named Abigail is included, as she's about to help him save not only the lives of others, but probably his own life and future, as she gives him (and us) some timely advice on Overcoming the Giant of Anger!

The truth is a lot of times we don't even know what we're angry about.  We just know there's a low-grade anger that follows us around like a gray cloud, and we live on the edge. Some years ago, when a man and his parents were on their way home from church, a tragic accident occurred and both parents died, and he barely survived.  I later discovered that he had become an alcoholic, deeply involved in drugs, and had landed in prison.  

Years later, as he was unpacking all the stuff in his life, he realized that his problems started when his parents were killed. He then became angry at God, angry at his parents for leaving him, and angry at himself that he didn't die with them.  His anger began spilling over like acid on to everyone he came in contact with. And, now, he can’t receive his healing or stop taking drugs until he first deals with the root cause of his problem—anger! 

Anger is simply a strong emotion of being annoyed or displeased about something. The destructive part of anger is when anger is uncontrolled and escalates into rage, fury, hate, resentment, revenge, destructive words, and deplorable actions.

Anger is just one letter away from danger! The letter D could represent when the devil gets you to feel righteous about doing something unrighteous! That is exactly where we find David. He is hiding in the hills south of Bethlehem, looking over his shoulder staying out of the reach of King Saul, who is still hot on his trail!  There is a very wealthy man named Nabal shearing his sheep. During this week-long celebration, people would give gifts of food and drink to their neighbors, so David sends some of his men to Nabal to get his share of the bounty. David's men acted as security guards in the area, so he thought this would be a good time to share in some of the goodwill.

David’s men talk to Nabal, but he bullies them, gives them a tongue lashing, and sends them away with curses for David! The men tell David what Nabal said, and David flies into a rage and orders 400 of his men to start a march to kill them all!  Here's David’s battle speech:

1 Samuel 25:21-22 NIV says: “²¹ David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. ²² May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!”

Nabal has a wife named Abigail—she is the example that David will leave for us!  One of her servants sees what is going on and rides over to Abigail and tells her what just happened, that David is on his way with 400 men to kill Nabal and all his men!  The Bible says, Abigail immediately moves into action and prepares 200 loaves of bread, five dressed sheep, a barrel of roasted grain, hundred cakes of raisins, and 200 cakes of pressed figs.  She loads them on donkeys to intercept David and his men.  When she arrives, Abigail immediately bows her face to the ground and takes the blame! 

1 Samuel 25:24-25 NLT says: “²⁴ She fell at his feet and said, “I accept all blame in this matter, my lord. Please listen to what I have to say. ²⁵ I know Nabal is a wicked and ill-tempered man; please don’t pay any attention to him. He is a fool, just as his name suggests. But I never even saw the young men you sent.”

She asks forgiveness, even though she didn't violate anybody.  Interestingly, she knew that she needed to tame the heart of David with forgiveness.  Regardless of who was at fault, she just needed to deploy forgiveness.  Uncontrolled anger is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.  It doesn't work!

OVERCOMING THE GIANT OF ANGER 

Alvin Toffler, author of the book Future Shock, wrote: “Those who will be the literates of the 21st century will not be those who can read or write, it will be those who can learn, unlearn, then relearn!” 

1.               Learn to Practice Forgiving  

The first principle in Overcoming the Giant of Anger is to learn to practice forgiving before the battle begins! Forgiving doesn't come easily; you’re not born with it; you must build it and practice it—it’s a skill!  Start by forgiving the easy stuff first: When someone forgets to greet you, forgive—it’s no big deal! When you don't get served first, it's not a big deal—forgive!  In life, we’ll face people problems and negative events, so practice forgiving as a part of your everyday life! One day, you will need to forgive the big ones; and if you haven't learned to forgive the small ones, it will be a train wreck when life throws you a curve ball!

Abigail saved David from sinning when she helped him rethink his initial reaction, which would have been devastating.  Thank God for people like Abigail!  I call them “lightning rods.”  They'll ground your anger and disappointment and help you rethink your response.  

2.               Learn to Unlearn

We have habits that must be unlearned. Things that worked in the past are not working today.  Anger is something we learn along the way, and when something happens to us, everything goes off, and we have a low?grade anger that follows us around.  Solomon reminds us in:

Proverbs 22:24-25 NIV: “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways   and get yourself ensnared.”

In the past, we learned a pattern of anger that is now working against us: it steals our potential friendships, ruins our marriage, robs our future, causes irreparable damage, drives people away, breaks up family, and separates people. But, here's the good news!  If an angry disposition is something we learned, it can be unlearned!  How do you unlearn?

You must first see the devastating effects of anger and fight it like the plague!  Anger leads to many addictions because it gives power to blame and rationalizes hate.  It authorizes vengeance!  

Some people say, "I just can't stop myself when I get angry."  Sure, you can.  "No, no, I can't.  It just takes ahold of me."  You can. Let me prove it.  Let's say you're having a problem with one of your kids and you're angry and yelling at him.  The phone rings and your other child says, "Mom," "What!?"  "It's the pastor."  You pick up the phone and sweetly say:  "Praise the Lord.  Oh, God is good.  All the time, all the time God is good."  Isn't that right?  You can go from rage to praise the Lord, and we do it all the time!  You make the choice.  

In many of the Psalms you can hear David venting before God; then something changes. I just love how the Bible shows us men and women in their raw, unedited versions of themselves because many times, we are right there too!  

Clues from David on Overcoming the Giant of Anger.  David is running from Saul and pens his first draft in:  

Psalm 109:8-10 NKJV says: “⁸ Let his days be few and let another take his office. ⁹ Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow. ¹⁰ Let his children continually be vagabonds and beg.”

But later his second draft reveals that he may be seeing things as he should, and you can almost hear him sighing and admitting in… 

Psalm 109:22 NASB: For I am afflicted and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.”

He finishes his second draft in:  Psalm 109:28-31 NASB says, “²⁸ Let them curse, but You bless…But Your servant shall be glad. ³⁰ With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the Lord; And in the midst of many I will praise Him. ³¹ For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul.”

Have you been living as a first draft person?  Do you send the first draft of your words, actions, thoughts, then go to war and suffer regret the rest of your days?  Maybe you could unlearn that and learn a new normal—a better normal would be to become a second draft person!  First drafts are normal, even human; but second draft people are divine.  That's what separates those who miss life from those who tap into life.  Don't take too long to get to your second draft. Paul says in Ephesians 4:26 RSV: “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,”

Pour your heart out before God alone, He can take it—people cannot! The sooner we do that, the sooner we get to our second draft. David learned at an early age to go to the Lord in times of distress and vented before Him.  He knew that there was only one that could give him comfort, and no one else could relieve him from his distresses. There will be two pains in life:  The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.  You choose whether you are a first or a second draft person.

3.               Learn to Relearn 

Determine once and for all who will be your Lord—the one who determines your disposition, controls your actions, words, and demeanor. 

We can learn from Abigail. 1 Samuel 25:28-31 NLT says: “²⁸ Please forgive your handmaid… (notice the switch) The Lord will surely reward you, ³¹ Don’t let this be a blemish on your record. Then your conscience won’t have to bear the staggering burden of needless bloodshed and vengeance.”

Abigail reminds David, “The Lord will reward you.”  But at that point, David is so angry at Nabal that he is going to kill him! Nabal is now controlling David and determining whether he would be a wise or an unwise leader, a peacemaker or a blood-shedder. Determine who will be your Lord, so that the Giant of Anger won't have a chance to diminish your life or future! Choose Jesus as your Lord! 

FOR DISCUSSION:

Share your experience of Overcoming the Giant of Anger in your life. How did you overcome it? What was the triggerthat caused the anger? How did you unlearn that behavior? Testify and become an Overcomer!

Overcoming the Giant of Anger

Killing Giants God’s Way

Pastor Wayne Cordeiro

May 2 & 3, 2020

Welcome, New Hope—everywhere and anywhere!  I'm so glad you're joining us as we continue this shelter?in?placeseason. Many are dealing with job loss, income drop, health struggles, not being able to see loved ones, and something called, shortening of tempers:  angry at the virus, the government, the whole world—and we take it out on one another. Isn't that true?  

Before we begin, I feel a need to encourage you that every problem that you will ever face has already been faced by somebody in the Bible—and they've left clues behind for us to follow!

1 Corinthians 10:11 NLT says: “These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”

All that is written in the Bible are actually written for you and me, and God has a message for each of us today! David will again be our example, but this time, a lady named Abigail is included, as she's about to help him save not only the lives of others, but probably his own life and future, as she gives him (and us) some timely advice on Overcoming the Giant of Anger!

The truth is a lot of times we don't even know what we're angry about.  We just know there's a low-grade anger that follows us around like a gray cloud, and we live on the edge. Some years ago, when a man and his parents were on their way home from church, a tragic accident occurred and both parents died, and he barely survived.  I later discovered that he had become an alcoholic, deeply involved in drugs, and had landed in prison.  

Years later, as he was unpacking all the stuff in his life, he realized that his problems started when his parents were killed. He then became angry at God, angry at his parents for leaving him, and angry at himself that he didn't die with them.  His anger began spilling over like acid on to everyone he came in contact with. And, now, he can’t receive his healing or stop taking drugs until he first deals with the root cause of his problem—anger! 

Anger is simply a strong emotion of being annoyed or displeased about something. The destructive part of anger is when anger is uncontrolled and escalates into rage, fury, hate, resentment, revenge, destructive words, and deplorable actions.

Anger is just one letter away from danger! The letter D could represent when the devil gets you to feel righteous about doing something unrighteous! That is exactly where we find David. He is hiding in the hills south of Bethlehem, looking over his shoulder staying out of the reach of King Saul, who is still hot on his trail!  There is a very wealthy man named Nabal shearing his sheep. During this week-long celebration, people would give gifts of food and drink to their neighbors, so David sends some of his men to Nabal to get his share of the bounty. David's men acted as security guards in the area, so he thought this would be a good time to share in some of the goodwill.

David’s men talk to Nabal, but he bullies them, gives them a tongue lashing, and sends them away with curses for David! The men tell David what Nabal said, and David flies into a rage and orders 400 of his men to start a march to kill them all!  Here's David’s battle speech:

1 Samuel 25:21-22 NIV says: “²¹ David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. ²² May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!”

Nabal has a wife named Abigail—she is the example that David will leave for us!  One of her servants sees what is going on and rides over to Abigail and tells her what just happened, that David is on his way with 400 men to kill Nabal and all his men!  The Bible says, Abigail immediately moves into action and prepares 200 loaves of bread, five dressed sheep, a barrel of roasted grain, hundred cakes of raisins, and 200 cakes of pressed figs.  She loads them on donkeys to intercept David and his men.  When she arrives, Abigail immediately bows her face to the ground and takes the blame! 

1 Samuel 25:24-25 NLT says: “²⁴ She fell at his feet and said, “I accept all blame in this matter, my lord. Please listen to what I have to say. ²⁵ I know Nabal is a wicked and ill-tempered man; please don’t pay any attention to him. He is a fool, just as his name suggests. But I never even saw the young men you sent.”

She asks forgiveness, even though she didn't violate anybody.  Interestingly, she knew that she needed to tame the heart of David with forgiveness.  Regardless of who was at fault, she just needed to deploy forgiveness.  Uncontrolled anger is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.  It doesn't work!

OVERCOMING THE GIANT OF ANGER 

Alvin Toffler, author of the book Future Shock, wrote: “Those who will be the literates of the 21st century will not be those who can read or write, it will be those who can learn, unlearn, then relearn!” 

1.               Learn to Practice Forgiving  

The first principle in Overcoming the Giant of Anger is to learn to practice forgiving before the battle begins! Forgiving doesn't come easily; you’re not born with it; you must build it and practice it—it’s a skill!  Start by forgiving the easy stuff first: When someone forgets to greet you, forgive—it’s no big deal! When you don't get served first, it's not a big deal—forgive!  In life, we’ll face people problems and negative events, so practice forgiving as a part of your everyday life! One day, you will need to forgive the big ones; and if you haven't learned to forgive the small ones, it will be a train wreck when life throws you a curve ball!

Abigail saved David from sinning when she helped him rethink his initial reaction, which would have been devastating.  Thank God for people like Abigail!  I call them “lightning rods.”  They'll ground your anger and disappointment and help you rethink your response.  

2.               Learn to Unlearn

We have habits that must be unlearned. Things that worked in the past are not working today.  Anger is something we learn along the way, and when something happens to us, everything goes off, and we have a low?grade anger that follows us around.  Solomon reminds us in:

Proverbs 22:24-25 NIV: “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways   and get yourself ensnared.”

In the past, we learned a pattern of anger that is now working against us: it steals our potential friendships, ruins our marriage, robs our future, causes irreparable damage, drives people away, breaks up family, and separates people. But, here's the good news!  If an angry disposition is something we learned, it can be unlearned!  How do you unlearn?

You must first see the devastating effects of anger and fight it like the plague!  Anger leads to many addictions because it gives power to blame and rationalizes hate.  It authorizes vengeance!  

Some people say, "I just can't stop myself when I get angry."  Sure, you can.  "No, no, I can't.  It just takes ahold of me."  You can. Let me prove it.  Let's say you're having a problem with one of your kids and you're angry and yelling at him.  The phone rings and your other child says, "Mom," "What!?"  "It's the pastor."  You pick up the phone and sweetly say:  "Praise the Lord.  Oh, God is good.  All the time, all the time God is good."  Isn't that right?  You can go from rage to praise the Lord, and we do it all the time!  You make the choice.  

In many of the Psalms you can hear David venting before God; then something changes. I just love how the Bible shows us men and women in their raw, unedited versions of themselves because many times, we are right there too!  

Clues from David on Overcoming the Giant of Anger.  David is running from Saul and pens his first draft in:  

Psalm 109:8-10 NKJV says: “⁸ Let his days be few and let another take his office. ⁹ Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow. ¹⁰ Let his children continually be vagabonds and beg.”

But later his second draft reveals that he may be seeing things as he should, and you can almost hear him sighing and admitting in… 

Psalm 109:22 NASB: For I am afflicted and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.”

He finishes his second draft in:  Psalm 109:28-31 NASB says, “²⁸ Let them curse, but You bless…But Your servant shall be glad. ³⁰ With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the Lord; And in the midst of many I will praise Him. ³¹ For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul.”

Have you been living as a first draft person?  Do you send the first draft of your words, actions, thoughts, then go to war and suffer regret the rest of your days?  Maybe you could unlearn that and learn a new normal—a better normal would be to become a second draft person!  First drafts are normal, even human; but second draft people are divine.  That's what separates those who miss life from those who tap into life.  Don't take too long to get to your second draft. Paul says in Ephesians 4:26 RSV: “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,”

Pour your heart out before God alone, He can take it—people cannot! The sooner we do that, the sooner we get to our second draft. David learned at an early age to go to the Lord in times of distress and vented before Him.  He knew that there was only one that could give him comfort, and no one else could relieve him from his distresses. There will be two pains in life:  The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.  You choose whether you are a first or a second draft person.

3.               Learn to Relearn 

Determine once and for all who will be your Lord—the one who determines your disposition, controls your actions, words, and demeanor. 

We can learn from Abigail. 1 Samuel 25:28-31 NLT says: “²⁸ Please forgive your handmaid… (notice the switch) The Lord will surely reward you, ³¹ Don’t let this be a blemish on your record. Then your conscience won’t have to bear the staggering burden of needless bloodshed and vengeance.”

Abigail reminds David, “The Lord will reward you.”  But at that point, David is so angry at Nabal that he is going to kill him! Nabal is now controlling David and determining whether he would be a wise or an unwise leader, a peacemaker or a blood-shedder. Determine who will be your Lord, so that the Giant of Anger won't have a chance to diminish your life or future! Choose Jesus as your Lord! 

FOR DISCUSSION:

Share your experience of Overcoming the Giant of Anger in your life. How did you overcome it? What was the triggerthat caused the anger? How did you unlearn that behavior? Testify and become an Overcomer!

Overcoming the Giant of Anger

Killing Giants God’s Way

Pastor Wayne Cordeiro

May 2 & 3, 2020

Welcome, New Hope—everywhere and anywhere!  I'm so glad you're joining us as we continue this shelter?in?placeseason. Many are dealing with job loss, income drop, health struggles, not being able to see loved ones, and something called, shortening of tempers:  angry at the virus, the government, the whole world—and we take it out on one another. Isn't that true?  

Before we begin, I feel a need to encourage you that every problem that you will ever face has already been faced by somebody in the Bible—and they've left clues behind for us to follow!

1 Corinthians 10:11 NLT says: “These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”

All that is written in the Bible are actually written for you and me, and God has a message for each of us today! David will again be our example, but this time, a lady named Abigail is included, as she's about to help him save not only the lives of others, but probably his own life and future, as she gives him (and us) some timely advice on Overcoming the Giant of Anger!

The truth is a lot of times we don't even know what we're angry about.  We just know there's a low-grade anger that follows us around like a gray cloud, and we live on the edge. Some years ago, when a man and his parents were on their way home from church, a tragic accident occurred and both parents died, and he barely survived.  I later discovered that he had become an alcoholic, deeply involved in drugs, and had landed in prison.  

Years later, as he was unpacking all the stuff in his life, he realized that his problems started when his parents were killed. He then became angry at God, angry at his parents for leaving him, and angry at himself that he didn't die with them.  His anger began spilling over like acid on to everyone he came in contact with. And, now, he can’t receive his healing or stop taking drugs until he first deals with the root cause of his problem—anger! 

Anger is simply a strong emotion of being annoyed or displeased about something. The destructive part of anger is when anger is uncontrolled and escalates into rage, fury, hate, resentment, revenge, destructive words, and deplorable actions.

Anger is just one letter away from danger! The letter D could represent when the devil gets you to feel righteous about doing something unrighteous! That is exactly where we find David. He is hiding in the hills south of Bethlehem, looking over his shoulder staying out of the reach of King Saul, who is still hot on his trail!  There is a very wealthy man named Nabal shearing his sheep. During this week-long celebration, people would give gifts of food and drink to their neighbors, so David sends some of his men to Nabal to get his share of the bounty. David's men acted as security guards in the area, so he thought this would be a good time to share in some of the goodwill.

David’s men talk to Nabal, but he bullies them, gives them a tongue lashing, and sends them away with curses for David! The men tell David what Nabal said, and David flies into a rage and orders 400 of his men to start a march to kill them all!  Here's David’s battle speech:

1 Samuel 25:21-22 NIV says: “²¹ David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. ²² May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!”

Nabal has a wife named Abigail—she is the example that David will leave for us!  One of her servants sees what is going on and rides over to Abigail and tells her what just happened, that David is on his way with 400 men to kill Nabal and all his men!  The Bible says, Abigail immediately moves into action and prepares 200 loaves of bread, five dressed sheep, a barrel of roasted grain, hundred cakes of raisins, and 200 cakes of pressed figs.  She loads them on donkeys to intercept David and his men.  When she arrives, Abigail immediately bows her face to the ground and takes the blame! 

1 Samuel 25:24-25 NLT says: “²⁴ She fell at his feet and said, “I accept all blame in this matter, my lord. Please listen to what I have to say. ²⁵ I know Nabal is a wicked and ill-tempered man; please don’t pay any attention to him. He is a fool, just as his name suggests. But I never even saw the young men you sent.”

She asks forgiveness, even though she didn't violate anybody.  Interestingly, she knew that she needed to tame the heart of David with forgiveness.  Regardless of who was at fault, she just needed to deploy forgiveness.  Uncontrolled anger is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.  It doesn't work!

OVERCOMING THE GIANT OF ANGER 

Alvin Toffler, author of the book Future Shock, wrote: “Those who will be the literates of the 21st century will not be those who can read or write, it will be those who can learn, unlearn, then relearn!” 

1.               Learn to Practice Forgiving  

The first principle in Overcoming the Giant of Anger is to learn to practice forgiving before the battle begins! Forgiving doesn't come easily; you’re not born with it; you must build it and practice it—it’s a skill!  Start by forgiving the easy stuff first: When someone forgets to greet you, forgive—it’s no big deal! When you don't get served first, it's not a big deal—forgive!  In life, we’ll face people problems and negative events, so practice forgiving as a part of your everyday life! One day, you will need to forgive the big ones; and if you haven't learned to forgive the small ones, it will be a train wreck when life throws you a curve ball!

Abigail saved David from sinning when she helped him rethink his initial reaction, which would have been devastating.  Thank God for people like Abigail!  I call them “lightning rods.”  They'll ground your anger and disappointment and help you rethink your response.  

2.               Learn to Unlearn

We have habits that must be unlearned. Things that worked in the past are not working today.  Anger is something we learn along the way, and when something happens to us, everything goes off, and we have a low?grade anger that follows us around.  Solomon reminds us in:

Proverbs 22:24-25 NIV: “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways   and get yourself ensnared.”

In the past, we learned a pattern of anger that is now working against us: it steals our potential friendships, ruins our marriage, robs our future, causes irreparable damage, drives people away, breaks up family, and separates people. But, here's the good news!  If an angry disposition is something we learned, it can be unlearned!  How do you unlearn?

You must first see the devastating effects of anger and fight it like the plague!  Anger leads to many addictions because it gives power to blame and rationalizes hate.  It authorizes vengeance!  

Some people say, "I just can't stop myself when I get angry."  Sure, you can.  "No, no, I can't.  It just takes ahold of me."  You can. Let me prove it.  Let's say you're having a problem with one of your kids and you're angry and yelling at him.  The phone rings and your other child says, "Mom," "What!?"  "It's the pastor."  You pick up the phone and sweetly say:  "Praise the Lord.  Oh, God is good.  All the time, all the time God is good."  Isn't that right?  You can go from rage to praise the Lord, and we do it all the time!  You make the choice.  

In many of the Psalms you can hear David venting before God; then something changes. I just love how the Bible shows us men and women in their raw, unedited versions of themselves because many times, we are right there too!  

Clues from David on Overcoming the Giant of Anger.  David is running from Saul and pens his first draft in:  

Psalm 109:8-10 NKJV says: “⁸ Let his days be few and let another take his office. ⁹ Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow. ¹⁰ Let his children continually be vagabonds and beg.”

But later his second draft reveals that he may be seeing things as he should, and you can almost hear him sighing and admitting in… 

Psalm 109:22 NASB: For I am afflicted and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.”

He finishes his second draft in:  Psalm 109:28-31 NASB says, “²⁸ Let them curse, but You bless…But Your servant shall be glad. ³⁰ With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the Lord; And in the midst of many I will praise Him. ³¹ For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul.”

Have you been living as a first draft person?  Do you send the first draft of your words, actions, thoughts, then go to war and suffer regret the rest of your days?  Maybe you could unlearn that and learn a new normal—a better normal would be to become a second draft person!  First drafts are normal, even human; but second draft people are divine.  That's what separates those who miss life from those who tap into life.  Don't take too long to get to your second draft. Paul says in Ephesians 4:26 RSV: “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,”

Pour your heart out before God alone, He can take it—people cannot! The sooner we do that, the sooner we get to our second draft. David learned at an early age to go to the Lord in times of distress and vented before Him.  He knew that there was only one that could give him comfort, and no one else could relieve him from his distresses. There will be two pains in life:  The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.  You choose whether you are a first or a second draft person.

3.               Learn to Relearn 

Determine once and for all who will be your Lord—the one who determines your disposition, controls your actions, words, and demeanor. 

We can learn from Abigail. 1 Samuel 25:28-31 NLT says: “²⁸ Please forgive your handmaid… (notice the switch) The Lord will surely reward you, ³¹ Don’t let this be a blemish on your record. Then your conscience won’t have to bear the staggering burden of needless bloodshed and vengeance.”

Abigail reminds David, “The Lord will reward you.”  But at that point, David is so angry at Nabal that he is going to kill him! Nabal is now controlling David and determining whether he would be a wise or an unwise leader, a peacemaker or a blood-shedder. Determine who will be your Lord, so that the Giant of Anger won't have a chance to diminish your life or future! Choose Jesus as your Lord! 

FOR DISCUSSION:

Share your experience of Overcoming the Giant of Anger in your life. How did you overcome it? What was the triggerthat caused the anger? How did you unlearn that behavior? Testify and become an Overcomer!