Count to ten again

Title: Count to Ten, Again
Author: Tony Beckett and Woodrow Kroll
Proverbs 16-18, 2 Corinthians 6 Proverbs 16:32
In our fast paced world, with lives stuck on fast forward, rage comes quicker than ever. Someone gets cut off in traffic and rage kicks in laying on the horn, screaming out the window, if not doing something even more drastic. Road rage is one example; airline rage is another. I once witnessed frustrated and fearful gate agents called for the police when a passenger at the airport, frustrated by a delay, began to yell.
"Better a patient man than a warrior, . . ."
A friend caught in one of those nightmare travel scenarios, flights delayed and canceled due to weather, described what happened when he was patient with the ticket agent. After she worked out the remainder of his trip she thanked him for his demeanor. "You made my day," she said.
". . . a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city."
The person of rage may get his way at the counter or feel better having vented his anger at other drivers. He may feel good about being a road warrior, but he is not. God's Word says that the patient person, the one who can control his temper, is better.
The impatient person may think he is in control by forcing his will on others, but he is not. He is out of control, unable to control himself. We are to be under the control of the Spirit and be people of patience.
Rage may be the rage today, but patience is honored by God forever.
Perhaps something will test your patience today. Do you think you will pass or fail? You probably already know the answer! Ask God right now to help you begin to be a patient person.
Daily devotions courtesy of Devotions.org, a ministry of Back to the Bible.