Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today we’ll examine accidents of sin that can occur because of our anger.

Today’s scripture, Exodus 32:19‭-‬21 (NLT), shares…
When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf they had made and burned it. Then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water, and forced the people to drink it. Finally, he turned to Aaron and demanded, “What did these people do to you to make you bring such terrible sin upon them?”

And Numbers 20:10‭-‬12 (NLT) shares…
Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. “Listen, you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from this rock?” Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!”

Consider…
Road rage is defined an aggressive driving that arises from disagreements with other drivers. Tailgating, stress, and heavy traffic are examples of situations that can cause road rage.

A study analyzed 10,000 road rage incidents over 7 years and found they caused at least 218 murders and 12,610 injury cases.

And according to AAA, more than 50% of fatal crashes are caused by road rage.

In today’s scriptures we witness Moses becoming so angry with the Children of Israel’s rebellious behavior that he snapped. In Moses’ fits of anger, he angered God, in the midst of chastising His disobedient, yet still chosen people.

If we’re honest, many of us would confess we have said and done things that were not pleasing to God, in the midst of our anger.

Ironically, a common phrase used to describe our irreverent anger is ‘seeing red’. Collins Dictionary defines ‘to see red’ as to suddenly become very angry.

Do you remember the story of the first murder in the Bible? Well, let’s look at the circumstances that lead up to the murder. Genesis 4:3‭-‬7 (NLT) says…
When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected. “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

Cain was angry because his brother was accepted, rather than being reflective of why he was rejected. How often do we irrationally project our failures onto others who are simply doing what they’re supposed to do.

Revisiting ‘road rage’, we see common examples include aggressive actions like:

• Speeding
• Moving dangerously through traffic
• Running red lights
• Tailgating
• Slamming brakes

These examples demonstrate that the aggressor’s attitude is self-centered and disregards the well being of others.

In the same way, Moses became so prideful and self-centered about the people rebelling against his leadership, that he disregarded what God wanted and told him to do.

How often do we take other’s rejection of us so personal, that we disregard the most important thing, which is God’s acceptance?

Or how about when we decide to defend the Almighty God, who’s never lost a battle. He tells us to pray, but in our anger over other’s attacking His name and character, we decide to slay. That’s what happened with Peter.

In Matthew 26:40‭-‬41, Jesus told Peter to pray to avoid danger. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

Yet, just a few verses later, in Matthew 26:50‭-‬53 (NLT) we read where Peter attempted to slay…
Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.” Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him. But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear. “Put away your sword,” Jesus told him. “Those who use the sword will die by the sword. Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?

What a powerful reminder that our Great Defender doesn’t need our defense.

We see in John 18:10, that Peter chose to slay out of anger, rather than pray, as told, to avoid the danger. So focused on what he was seeing, Peter forgot who he was serving. How often do we forget it’s not about what we see, but who we serve.

The Holy Spirit is emphasizing that whenever we ‘see red’, rather than become suddenly angry, we should remember the blood and pray instead.

Also, Ephesians 4:26‭-‬27 (NLT) admonishes…
“don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

God is saying, anger accidents are our fault, and we will bear the consequences. Here are a couple of examples we find in the Bible…

• Jonah was angry about God saving Nineveh and was tossed overboard in the midst of a storm, he caused. Also, he was swallowed by a large fish and stayed in the belly for three days, until he thrown back to where he first got God’s command to go. (Jonah 1:11-17)
• Today’s second scripture, said Moses was not allowed to go into the promise land because he struck, when God said speak. (Numbers 20:12)
• Saul became angry, out of jealousy, over David and lost his throne and favor with God. He focused on what he saw and heard rather than who he knew and served. (1 Samuel 18:7-12)

The Holy Spirit is emphasizing, stop angrily focusing on what you see, and instead peacefully remember who you serve. When we do this, we will avoid anger accidents of sin.

Never get so angry with what you see (or hear) that you forget who you serve.

The only red we should see, is our Lord and Savior’s blood that flowed from Him on the Cross of Calvary.

Today’s song is….
The Battle Is The Lord’s

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)