If God said to me, “Jason, I will give you one chance to change the world. I will answer one prayer immediately. Make it a good one. This is your only opportunity, so you better get it right. I gave Solomon this chance, and he asked for wisdom. What do you want?” Without hesitation, I would say, “Lord, please make people less angry because anger is killing us.” 

The words I most regret saying, I said when I was angry. The things I most regret doing, I did when I was angry. Anger is the universal symptom of underlying pain. Anger is what we express when we don’t know how to deal with our grievances. Anger is killing us because it triggers abuse and violence. Anger is never a sign of strength. It is always a sign of stress and weakness. If we can’t reduce the heat under simmering unhappiness, it will eventually boil over into some kind of angry outburst.

Solomon said, “For as churning cream produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife” (Proverbs 30:33). Some people stir up anger on purpose. They want to divide us so they can pit one “energized” faction against another. Then may the angriest party win. What will escalation of anger ultimately lead to? God answered Solomon’s once-in-a-lifetime prayer. I hope he will answer mine. “Don’t be quick to get angry, because anger is typical of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:9 GW).