BBD 12.02.14 Going Crazy (Classic)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
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The Burning
Bush Devotional
Classic
from 2007
12.02.14
Going
Crazy
A fool’s wrath is known at once, but a prudent man covers shame. -
Proverbs 12:16.
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The
tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth
foolishness. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil
and the good. - Proverbs 15:1-3.
A wrathful man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger allays
contention. - Proverbs 15:18.
He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his
spirit than he who takes a city. - Proverbs 16:32.
The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to
overlook a transgression. - Proverbs 19:11.
Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away
from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. - Ephesians 4:31-32.
Jeff Goza unintentionally cut off a driver of a Volvo and
according to Jeff, it was clear that the Volvo driver was upset. The driver of
the Volvo, Steven Stankovitch, followed Jeff and tried to cut him off too.
However, Steven lost control; hit a curb causing the Volvo to flip four times.
He then climbed out of the vehicle, which was now on its roof; and tried to
start a fight with Jeff, who just tried to let Steven take out his frustrations.
Steven now has some legal problems.
Maybe it was the high price of gas that drove Patricia
Sasser crazy on a Tuesday morning. She and another woman arrived at the gas
pump at about the same time. However, the other woman already had the nozzle in
her hands. So what do you do? Patricia grabbed the gas pump nozzle and both
women fell to the ground. Patricia then swung the metal nozzle at the other
woman hitting her. Patricia now has some legal problems too.
A teacher’s aide to a fourth grade teacher somehow became
upset with a student. The student had picked up a post-it note from the floor
and stuck it to her forehead. The aide threatened to staple the note to the
girl if she did not remove it. The student ignored the order, and the aide
pushed the stapler against her forehead leaving two puncture marks. The
teacher’s aide now has to look for another job.
I could list story after story about people becoming
upset and over reacting. It has become a national pastime with collateral
damage everywhere that we look. From children to the elderly overreaction has
become almost the norm.
What was the old adage? Before you do something stupid
count to ten? That may not have been it, but still it might be helpful. Before
you go crazy and ruin your life, and probably the lives of everyone in your
family, take a moment to meditate on the consequences. Better yet, memorize
some of these verses about anger and meditate on them. Yes, the Lord will
forgive you. “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just
to forgive us of our sins….” However,
the consequences for those sins are still going to occur.
All the school shootings, the work place shootings, the
road rage, and on and on and on; we cannot stop it all by ourselves, but we can
stop ourselves from contributing to the problem. We can try to train up our
children so that they will not contribute to the problem. It is not always
possible, but we can try. We can try to be a godly and kind influence on the
lives around us. We can do that and maybe, just maybe there will be a ripple of
kindness that flows out from this devotional to your life to another life to
another life, which will bring peace instead of craziness. As the apostle Paul
put it, “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for
good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on
you, live peaceably with all men (Romans 12:17-18).”
Copyright © 2014. Ed Wrather. The
Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998
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