Anger is showing up everywhere, and in full-tilt. Yelling and cursing by Presidential candidates. Screaming mob brawls with bloody faces canceling political rallies. Consistent attack ads. Road rage with shots fired. Fights on flights. Rude and hateful driving, speech, etc. etc. Why are people so angry?

And it’s accelerating and becoming pervasive. Only a few short decades ago the behaviors happening in society and at events were unheard of and not tolerated. Now it’s becoming the norm. And we’re in danger of it becoming ensconced as the standard by high offices in what were the most revered institutions of the past.

Why are people so angry? Some say it’s because of the government, with it ignoring their particular group, whether that’s the poor, the middle class, black, white, democrat, republican, or whoever that’s angry on TV at the moment. Some say it’s the economy with people losing jobs and a path to a better future. Others insist the roots of anger are to be blamed on issues in education; such as the lack of it, unequal application of it, or, bless their hearts; it’s the teacher’s fault again with failure to teach. But no, not that some say, it’s actually the internet and social media unleashing the personal thoughts and feelings of the masses. And then, someone voices that it’s really the home, where TV, movies, and video games have modeled and replicated anger creating strife and instability.

But is it really any or all of these that are driving this explosion of anger? The cases could be made by some that government is more responsive with varied programs than ever; that the Fed is managing the economy with strong policy; that the Republicans and the Democrats have all had their turns in office; that there is more education and counseling available; that there have been great strides made in knowledge that benefit all.

So what’s really happening here? …what is making rage rise up from the human heart and display itself in full lividity?

In the past people would have turned to the police, the courts, to the governments, or to churches and counseling, to address their issues and conflicts. But it seems not now. Instead, there is a personal venting and demonstration of frustration and anger across all areas of society not before seen. There’s been so much trust lost in institutions and offices through a sense of betrayal.

It’s actually a Sign of the Times that was prophesied to come; where the winds of strife blow across the sea of humanity sweeping it into waves of anger that crash onto the rocks of its own destructive behavior. The Lord Jesus foretold it would come in Matthew 24, “…and then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another… and because lawlessness will abound….”

In fact, the Apostle Paul prophesied in 2 Timothy 3 of what today’s society would be like “…lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God….”

Mankind has evolved an environment of lawlessness with selfish behavior that has produced division and conflict which in turn has and will produce increasing anger and violence, at every level from “nation rising against nation” down to individuals rising up against one another. The world’s society is divided and in conflict creating stress and upheaval in every area of humankind.

What will help the strife of the human heart? It’s not another government program, a different political candidate, a better job, better education, another spouse or another house, or any other worldly item. True happiness with satisfaction only comes through experiencing a new birth within from the spiritual force of the love of Jesus Christ; which anyone can treasure and benefit from in whatever state they are in. Whether a person is rich or poor, republican or democrat, educated or uneducated, or black or white – peace can be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit of God.

But for a growing secular and lawless world, the storm clouds of tribulation are becoming darker and more ominous. In the Prophecy of the Revelation it describes the situation of the end-time when it says, “…Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”