Anger

Psalm 4:4 Don't sin by letting anger control you.  Think about it overnight and remain silent.

Anger is such a hard thing to control.  We say angry words in haste.  We hurt those we love because we respond in anger.  We are content to hurt others when we get angry because we were hurt by them  first.  What causes us to react in this way?  In most cases people get angry because we were offended by someone or something.  It might be that someone was wasting our time or belittling us in some way.

Last evening I received a phone call from someone who was taking a survey for the Department of Defense.  He told me that it might take up to 15 minutes to complete.  I was thinking it won't take that long because most surveys don't really apply to me.  As we progressed through the survey, he began to ask questions that I had just answered over and over and over again.  I became very frustrated and it began to anger me. 

As I look back on the event and try to decipher why I was getting so angry, I realized that it was because I was feeling like he was wasting my time.  I ended up hanging up on him because I just didn't want to continue to feel the anger.  This probably was not the best way to handle the situation. 

Anger is a reaction that comes in quickly due to a circumstance but the biggest thing that we must do is not allow that anger to control us.  There are times that we all get angry, but how we respond when we get angry is what truly matters.  The second part of this scripture is the best response for when we get angry: think about it and remain silent.  If we are silent (and don't act on our anger) then we don't sin.  This is what God wants.  Today, when you are tempted to do something in anger, think about this verse.