Have you ever been the victim of road rage? My first job out of high school was working at a lumber company. One day I was told by my employer to deliver some materials to a job site out in the country. I remember not being able to find the address and turning off the road to get my bearings. When I pulled back onto the road, I miscalculated the ability of that old lumber truck to get up to full speed and an oncoming pickup had to slow down drastically to avoid hitting me. He gestured to me to pull over and came up to my truck and grabbed me by the shirt collar and threatened to kill me. His anger was only calmed by someone else who saw my plight and told the guy to pick on someone his own size. My incident with road rage was terrifying.
Moses was truly a man of God, yet he too allowed road rage to overtake him. He and all Israel were on the road to the Promised Land and the people started complaining about water again. God instructed Moses to speak to the rock and water would come out of it to provide for their need. Instead of doing as God told him Moses struck the rock twice in anger calling the people rebels. The water did come out of the rock, but God was not pleased with Moses. He not only allowed his anger to get out of control, but he also disobeyed God’s instructions to only speak to the rock. He also gave Israel the impression that he produced the water rather than attributing it God alone. He stole God’s glory. Moses paid the price for his incident of road rage by not being allowed to enter the Promised Land.
God tells us in His Word: “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (Jas. 1:19,20). All of us need to be careful to keep our anger under control. So slow down, cool off, and let the Holy Spirit calm your road rage.
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