ANGER CONTROL

 

ANGER CONTROL

Num. 20:9-11 So Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the LORD. Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. “Listen you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from the rock?” Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So all the people and their livestock drank their fill. NLT

Moses acted out of anger and not a holy heart. He let his emotions determine his actions instead of the holiness of God. It is so easy to get angry. Most of us struggle with self-control in this area. For many of us, patience is hard. We tend to react and not think and wait before we act. We struggle with patience and the older we get, the harder it gets. Nerves weaken over time and we can’t handle things like we used to. It takes a lot more effort on our part to keep anger in check.

Moses was no exception. He was over 80 years old at this time. His close relationship with God did not make him immune to anger. He put up with the Israelites moaning and groaning for as long as he could. He finally let his nerves get the best of him and he lost his self-control. He did not do what God told him to do in the way God told him to do it. He reacted to the situation instead of deliberately acting. As a result, Moses lost out on the opportunity to lead his people into the Promised Land.

There are consequences to our losing our cool. We must always strive to not let anger rule us. No one is perfect and we all can and do get angry. But, we must maintain a close relationship with God and ask Him to help us maintain self-control as best as we can so we don’t act foolishly and perhaps hurt ourselves or others. The Lord does help those who are willing to let Him help them. Self-control comes from the Spirit of Christ working in us to transform us into a holy people, a people after God’s own heart.

If you have an anger problem, ask the Lord right now to help you protect your soul from anger as you face another day. Ask Him to help you think and consider your options before you react and lose control of what you may face as you go through your day. Ask Him to keep you from harming yourself or others because of your lack of self-control. If you ask from your heart, He will help you.