Slow to Anger – Also, A Fruit of the Spirit. (Part 1)
“ The Lord is slow to anger and great in power.” Nahum 1:3
I think about how often in the Old Testament book of Exodus (we have been learning from these past weeks at worship) that the Lord restrained His anger toward the Hebrew nation. A nation that He had recently set free from the 400 years of slavery and called them out of of the hands of the Egyptians to be in His Hands. It didn’t take long before the people complained and grumbled time after time even though God provided the necessities of food, water and safety during their journey with Him. Even last week in Exodus 32, we read how some of the people began to doubt their trust in both God’s protection and Moses’ leadership. They reverted back to their past of being in a land that worshipped false gods. They called to have a golden calf created out of their donations because they wanted it to now guide them on their journey. We know how that decision ended…..God was so angry He wanted to wipe them out and start over, but Moses spoke on their behalf and God was slow to anger.
Still God knows His enemies and they are marked for the judgement to come. For the next words of Nahum in this Chapter 1:3 are “And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” Those who completely turn away from God’s call and choose to follow the evil one will not escape. The believer has the hope and faith of God’s promises. If God was not divine and chose to go back on His promises, He would have ignored the plea of Moses and carried out His initial desire to wipe out the Hebrew nation. For all the anger and mistrust we have for our fellow man, our neighbors, it almost seems like this is a time God’s wrath will come down like lightning and strike down the ungrateful people of this time in history. Have we pleaded with God and prayed for a revival so that He will spare us like He did with the Hebrew nation?
The book of James gives us a warning about how being angry can hinder us and our walk with God. “Know this, my beloved brothers and sisters, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man / women does not produce the righteousness of God.” James 1:19-20 What is this righteousness that needs to be produced? God uses the Word, the teaching and preaching and studying of it to help us grow to be mature in Christ. But with any mode of education used to teach, we only become “mature” and educated if we receive and practice what we read or hear and see as led by the Holy Spirit. We can sit in a classroom or in a church or in front of a computer and not have our minds focused on the lesson or teachings. It doesn’t take much for a 6 year old or a 60 year old to be distracted by so many of the temptations available in the world these days. I guess I bring up this basic principle of how we learn and gain skills as we mature from my coaching and teaching days. I know that to become better in any athletic game it takes listening and watching and a whole lot of practice to become the best you can be. One of the many hindrances that impedes your development and throws your game off course is anger. Anger that festers in our heart can be very destructive. We will not be the productive disciples that God wants us to be and bring glory to Him if we have angry hearts. Being angry will cause you to miss so much of the Joy that God has for each of us. How must we deal with our anger? We will explore this question next week.
No matter how angry we get…..God is Still in Control.