Morning Meditation

Good Morning and Happy Monday!
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4: 26-27 (NIV)

Wisdom and the Angry Man

With her heart beating rapidly, the young beauty pushed her donkey to move quickly, hoping to prevent a slaughter. Mere moments ago, one of her servants told her that the young outlaw named David had made a formal request of her husband. David requested payment for valuable protection services that he and his men provided to her husband’s shepherds during the whole time the shepherds were herding and shearing sheep. But her husband, a man whose wealth was unfortunately surpassed only by his foolishness, refused to reward David with even a morsel of compensation. On the contrary, his response to David’s eloquent request for payment was to question David’s integrity. And now, David was coming to her home, this time looking to be paid with blood for what was not paid for with goodwill.
Without informing her husband, she wisely sent a small caravan of bread, wine, roasted grain and other precious supplies ahead of her, hoping to appease the anger of the man who everyone knew would one day be the next king of Israel. (1 Samuel 25:2-34)
By the time David met this beautiful wise woman, he had murder on his mind, but was in a better position to listen to her gentle and effectively wise argument that would save her husband, their household and ultimately David’s own integrity. If it was not for her appeal to both David’s present sense of justice and his future destiny, David would surely have sinned, impetuously avenging his offense with the blood of innocents in hot anger. (1 Samuel 25:33-34)
Anger is a God given emotion. We all have it. It has a purpose. But the decisions that we make in the heat of the moment can potentially be the worst decisions for our lives. (James 1:20)
Sometimes, it is better to strike the iron when the iron is cold.
Be encouraged!