Then he appointed twelve of them and called them his apostles. They were to accompany him, and he would send them out to preach, giving them authority to cast out demons.

These are the twelve he chose: Simon (whom he named Peter), James and John (the sons of Zebedee, but Jesus nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder”).

Mark 3:14-17

Of the twelve apostles, the first three, and the ones that formed Jesus’ innermost circle, had what we would consider character flaws. Peter had a temper and went from calm to fury in a matter of seconds. (He cut off a man’s ear, for cryin’ out loud!) Jesus dubbed James and John “Sons of Thunder” because of their thunderous, impetuous tendencies. They seemed to encourage confrontation, and at times preferred retaliation over grace. But Jesus didn’t allow their hearts to remain uncontrolled and unforgiving. He transformed them. He used their struggles and their sorrows to smooth out the rough edges, and He made them into powerful disciples that spread the Gospel throughout the world. 

While most of us may not have explosive personalities worthy of a nickname from Jesus, we all have moments of thunder in our lives. But Jesus doesn’t want us to stay that way. Some people seem to have a natural ability to rub us the wrong way. They ignite something within us that we would rather keep unlit. Often, we can’t even put our finger on the cause; we just know that our buttons were pushed and fury was awakened. Jesus understands our natures and gave us our personalities for a reason. Like the apostles, perhaps it’s our imperfect but willing hearts that make us perfectly suited to serve.

The kind of anger that honors Jesus isn’t the kind of anger that retaliates and rages. It isn’t uncontrolled and unforgiving. It’s the kind that ushers in healing and redemption. Like He did with the three, Jesus wants to use your imperfect personality for His perfect purposes. He will transform your heart and smooth out all the rough spots when you give Him every piece of your life. When you burn with love and grace and hope, you will light the way for others…straight to the heart of Jesus! You are loved!