I love dry ice volcanoes.

I’m not alone.  When one of my elementary school teachers pulled out a dry ice volcano all eyes were on her.  

Our teacher may have a had a hard time drawing our collective attention five minutes earlier, but not now.  

All of us sat on the edge of our seats.  I remember leaning forward in my desk hoping to add a little elevation to my small frame to get a better view.

We were fascinated when the “lava” began to flow over the crest of the volcano.

White “smoke” flowed out of the volcanic crater and down the slope.

I loved it! 1

Eruptions

Dry ice volcanic eruptions are fun.

But volcanic eruptions before running to catch the bus are not.

Volcanic eruptions on the way to church are not.
Volcanic eruptions in the board room are not.
Volcanic eruptions on the telephone aren’t either.

Dry ice dropped into hot water fuels the dry ice volcano, but what’s really behind our anger?

Angry Outbursts

Many of us have been taught “When you are angry, do not sin…Don’t get so angry that you sin…by letting anger control you.” 2  

It’s possible to be good and angry, but most of us don’t routinely practce that much discernment and self control.

More often than not, our anger is fueled by our:

Fear of failure.
Fear of rejection.
Fear of punishment.
Frustration when we feel our circumstances or situation is unjust.
Frustration when we feel our circumstances or situation is unfair.
Hurt feelings.
Revenge fantasies after being wounded.

Each of those provide enough emotional fuel to create a volcano.

This week we will look more at how the fear of failure fuels us and what we can do with our volcanoes.

 

1 – If you miss seeing dry ice volcanoes, you can watch several entertaining examples on youtube.

2 – Ephesians 4:26, NCV, NLT, CEV