Do Not be quickly provoked

"Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools." (Ecclesiates 7:9)

Do not become quickly provoked," the scripture tells us. Anger does seem to get out of control easily doesn't it? Sometimes we become angry so quickly that by the time we realize we're fuming we can't remember why. All we know is that we're mad!

Doesn't that seem like us at times? Being angry seems to be a part of living in this world. We live in an age of out-of-control law suits, protests, school massacres carried out by children, business place massacres carried out by employees and customers. We're mad as we can be and we're not going to take it any more.

What does the Word of God have to say about dealing with these situations?
In Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." (NKJ)

In Proverbs 15:18, "A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel." (NIV)

n Lee Strobel, teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, offers a unique perspective on life in the nineties:
You really are a person of the 90's…

If you feel like life is whizzing past you at 90 miles an hour. You work 90 hours a week, and you've still got 90 items on your to-do list. You're on a 90-calorie a day diet because you look 90 pounds overweight in your swimming suit.

 You've got 90 different bills to pay, and you're already $90 overdrawn-and that's just the interest. You're still paying $90 a month on your student loan, and you don't know where you're going to get $90,000 to send your kids to school.

 You've got 90 channels of cable television, and there's still nothing worth watching. You drive your kids to 90 different activities and events a month. Your toddler just asked "Why?' for the 90th time today.

 And you think everything would be fine, if you were just making 90 grand a year.
--Wayne Rouse (Rowell, 133 Fresh Illustrations)
"Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret"