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With
white knuckles and gritted teeth I drove aggressively up our canyon road. The
speed limit was 30 and I was pushing 40 as I rounded the corner and my headlights
reflected back from the side of a police car parked along the side. The officer
never gave me a second look but I suddenly felt the application of Scripture I
had been memorizing.
James
1:19-20 says, "This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be
quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not
achieve the righteousness of God."
I found myself angrily driving because I was unhappy with one
of our teens who had not done a very good job of scheduling his ride home from
a party. It was Saturday night. I had been asleep just long enough to really hate
getting up and dressed again. Obviously, my reactions were now being dictated
by my anger.
My father once broke his toe kicking at his dog. I know people
who have punched holes in their walls and thrown dishes out of anger. In the Middle
East right now, flaring anger is adding to the already complicated political and
religious issues plaguing the region.
The way this verse is worded implies that handling our anger
is something we are to have a part in. God does not necessarily make you saintly
in your anger reactions because you are His child. Your anger is self-destructive
and a bad testimony of your relationship with Jesus Christ. Practice being slow
to anger!
All Scripture references are from the New American
Standard Version unless otherwise noted.
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~ Slow
Down 
