Don't Be Quick To Get Angry

FLYING OFF THE HANDLE Joel 2:12-18 "That is why the Lord says, Turn to me now, while there is time.Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish.(Joel 2:12-13) In the book of Joel, he warns Judah of the coming wrath of God on the “day of the Lord,” a dreadful, fearful time of judgment upon God’s people for their unfaithfulness (Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14, 18). Except for those who “[call] on the name of the Lord” (2:32), this day will be a day of salvation and deliverance. God invites Judah, “return to me with all your heart” (v. 12). Joel says repentance may change God’s mind about sending such discipline (v. 14) Why? Because He’s “merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish” (v. 13 nlt). In Exodus God also reveals Himself as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness . . . forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7). God invites everyone to “rend your heart and . . . return to the Lord” (Joel 2:13). Slow to become Angry is how God is discribed in a few places in scripture, in other words God does not fly off the handle. Do you know people whose feathers are easily ruffled? Both of these terms mean someone gets angry quickly. Do you know anyone like that. Or maybe you are like I was, at one time in my life I would become very angry very quickly. And I was dangerous. Really, it is very human to get angry, when someone or something upsets you. But to blow up all of a sudden,and letting off steam by your actions and words,that is a choice. I for one had to learn to manage and control my reactions, there was a good reason, because if I didnt I was going to hurt myself or someone else. In fact I was afraid I might one day kill someone because of my anger/temper. When I finially learned how to control the early stages of my anger, my temper became controlable and I slowly learned how to gain respect from my family and friends, because I became slow to anger. God helped me get it under conrol, so I did not Fly Off The Handle. I needed to learn the ability to manage myself and keep my cool when things didnt work out the way I wanted them to, and also in manging my anger when interacting with others in the situation. It was not wrong for me to have emotions,it was learning to mange those emotions that was important. What causes problems is over reacting and allowing our emotions to conrol us. When my emotions controled me, that always caused problems for for me and for those in my home and at work. Or even in sports and other activities that may not go the way I wanted them to go. The bible tells us that God was slow to get angry. Meant God had emotions, but He was in control of them. It meant that God moves slowly with purpose He had patience, taking one step at a time towards a goal, making decissions that were thought through and intentional. The prophet Joel’s call for the people of Judah to repent is grounded in the reality that God was “slow to anger” (Joel 2:13). Unlike my dramatic actions when I was wronged,and it would fuel my temper and I would fly-off-the-handle in a moments notice, where God takes a different approach. His anger arrives slowly. To a people who had rebelled against Him, God says, “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God” (v. 13). God is our example of handling anger, you see God’s anger isn’t like ours. He’s slow to anger, when we disobey Him and won't follow Him, in reality when He is slow to anger, it allows us time to return to Him, before He disciplines. So we can return to Him with all our hearts. I am thankful that God seems to move slowly in my life? I am happy He is slow to anger and quick to be compassionate.. Many times, I have felt His love rather than His anger. Dear God, You’re slow to anger, and I’m ever thankful. I love you, I praise You for you are my loving heavenly Father. It is in your name I pray AMEN