3. Biblical Helps for Pain, Fear, and Anger
Biblical Helps for Pain
When we are in pain over what has happened to us, we need hope for a better future. We need hope in the Lord that things will not always be as they are. 1 Peter 1:13 explains we are to acknowledge the realities of this broken world, but also hope in the world that is to come. It reads, “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Biblical Helps for Fears
When we struggle with fear over what could happen to us we need peace that God is with us and will provide the grace we need when we need it. John 14:27 says, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.”
Biblical Helps for Anger
When we struggle with anger over racism committed against us, we need to forgive the sinner. Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” When sinned against we need to go back to those gospel truths that we sinned against God, yet he forgave us. Colossians 3:13 says, “bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” Ephesians 4:22-24 is a helpful teaching on how we can turn our anger into forgiveness. This passage teaches we are to “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life” (4:22) and instead “be renewed in the spirit of your minds” (4:23), which is to “put on the new self” (4:24).