Psalms 37:8 - Refrain from anger

Psalms 37:8 - Refrain from anger and turn from wrath: do not fret—it leads only to evil. I spent my morning at the DMV getting my drivers license renewed. I do not think that there is a more frustrating place in the world for me to visit than the DMV. I was lucky today though. I was able to get in and out in 20 min (not counting the 40 min I had to wait outside in the line just to get in). I was able to keep my cool though and get through the process. When I got back, i thought about others out there that might struggle with their frustrations at times like me and wanted to pass along some words from the bible that would speak to this topic. In our verse today we are told to refrain from anger and turn from wrath. It is to easy to lose control and lash out. Too often we are ruled by our emotions and we let them get the best of us. But when we do this we play right into the Devil's hands. If you are a Christian, folks are always looking at you. When you blow up and go off, what kind of witness are you providing to the world around you? Besides, you never know how your actions will affect someone else. The person that moves you to anger could be having a bad day or could be hurting. We need to be able to be patient with the world around us. Proverbs 14:32 says "a patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly". By being patient and understanding we can calm a situation. We can keep an issue from escalating. We can keep ourselves under control. And we can better reflect Christ to the world around us.