Anger: A Major Clue to the Idols of the Heart

All too often we are like Diotrephes, whom the New Testament describes as someone "who likes to put himself first" (3 John 9). But when we put ourselves on the throne, God is no longer the God of our lives; he is only another one of our servants. Rather than seeking his kingdom, we expect him to advance ours. Sooner or later we will get upset with him for not doing whatever it is that we expect him to do for us. Typically we get angry when we do not get what we want, which makes anger one of the best clues to our own private idolatries. When we are angry at the world or angry with God, it is almost always because we have the wrong person on the throne (Phillip G. Ryken, Commentary on 1 Kings, 10).