Pastor Steve Cole of Duran, Wisconsin, has been down here helping with hurricane efforts, especially with the Baumgartner home. And we've gotten to know each other pretty good over the last couple of weeks. And it is a joy to run across somebody that believes the same book, the same way, has faith in the same God, and the same promises that we do right here where it's warm in Texas. Now, he's getting a lot of good benefits out of this, getting to come and enjoy Texas for a little while. So pretty soon he's going to have to go back to Wisconsin and he's going to need our prayers a lot. But right now, I want the church to get to know him as well. And so he's preaching to us this morning. Amen? Give him a hand. Brother Steve, you come. We are glad you're here, my brother. Thank you. And I'm excited to see what God's got in store for us today. Thank you, brother. Appreciate it. Amen. All right. It is a blessing to be here. What a blessing to get to know Pastor Dill. You all have a blessing in him. And what a blessing to get to know the rest of you. I think about all the things that the church has done for us while we've been here. And one of the greatest blessings is I go out of my bedroom, which is the Sunday school room, and I get to play basketball. So I've taken advantage of that a few times. But I am looking forward to getting back to Wisconsin, even though it is about 40 degrees or 30 degrees today, something like that. We have less bugs in the cold. I saw some critters here over the last week that I don't want to see again. Well, it is a blessing to be here, and you see the title of the message here, but I'm gonna get to that in just a minute. Before we do, back when I was 15 years old, a fella came to me, and he asked me a question that no one had ever asked me the entire life that I'd been in church. I'd always assumed, but he asked me a question. He said, Steve, he said, are you a Christian? And that was all he said. I don't know that he knew to say a whole lot more, but that's what he said to me, are you a Christian? And I looked at him and I said, well, sure I am. Because I'd gone to church all my life, I'd been baptized, I'd read the Bible once in a while, I prayed a little bit, and I just thought I was a Christian. But when I came to a place at answering that question, I knew he was saying something that I did not understand. And so for the course of the next month, at the age of 15, I began to think about how that question related to me. And over the course of that next month, I began to search my own heart and God began to search my heart. And I realized how sinful I was before God and how much I needed him because my life was simply empty. I didn't know where I was going if I died that day. I didn't know what would happen with my sin. In fact, I did know after the month ended that my sin was putting me a place I didn't want to be. And so after that month, one night I was coming home, it was midnight, and I sat down next to an old brick wall and started looking up in the sky and I saw the stars and I just thought, Lord, you are so great and I am so small. You are everything, I'm nothing. You're holy, I'm sinful. And I can't fix my problem, only you can. And that night, over the course of that conversation, I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ to take my sin, forgive me, and to do what He would with me. And the next morning, I woke up, and for the first time in my life, I opened the Bible because I had an interest to. And I began to read God's Word. And for the first time in my life that morning, I began to pray to my father rather than to God. I began to pray to somebody that was now personal to me, not to someone who was far off in a distance and some outside of me, but now it was something big inside of me. And I went back and talked to someone later that day and I said, this is what happened last night. And I said, I don't know really what happened, because I hadn't really been given the gospel much, just bits and pieces, but I knew enough to know that the Lord would save me in that way. But I didn't really know what it was, and when I told them that, they just simply said this, well Steve, happy birthday, you've been born again. And I said, well, I don't know what it is, but I'm glad it is. And God has continued to do that work ever since. Being 15, I was involved in sports a while. I loved baseball and played some tennis. But one thing was in my mind to do. And in my mind was I wanted to be the best example I could be, no matter what sport I was playing. And so I purposed in everything I did to win every sportsmanship contest there ever was. because I wanted God to be glorified in it. And so I went and I played tennis and, well, I wasn't that great. I was good enough to win a few things. But I won the sportsmanship contest in so many different areas that way and in tennis. The fellow that was my best friend, he lost every one of them. He got so angry playing tennis. He was the best tennis player I'd ever seen. But he broke more rackets and he got more bloody fists for pounding fences and things that way. And I just thought, you know what? I don't want to be that guy. But at the same time, I also recognize this, that I can win every sportsmanship contest there are in the world, but I still have to deal with my own sin and my own anger at times. And that's kind of where we are today. When I look out at you folks, I see a happy group of people. I saw Sherry yesterday working on that computer. And as she's working on that computer, it was giving her all kinds of havoc, all kinds of trouble. And I sat down, it was giving me all kinds of trouble too. But I was watching her and I was waiting for the blow up. I was waiting for it, but you know what? It didn't come. And then Harley, he came in, and he was looking, and he just came in, big smile on his face, happy, and he was like, yeah, you got some problems? Oh, well, praise the Lord, you know, and kept on going, and you know, what a blessing. You know, the Bible says happy is the people whose God is what? Is the Lord. Happy is the people whose God is the Lord. So we find happiness in the midst of all of that. You know, there is a time to be angry. We know that. You know, the Bible says that you come to a place at which you have an angry countenance and it's going to drive away a backbiting tongue. We'll put that aside for a minute because most of the time that we ourselves get angry, it's not good, is it? You know, the Bible tells us when it comes to the word angry, it literally means to foam at the mouth. Have you ever seen anybody so angry that they're foaming? How about last week when you were angry? Did you foam at the mouth? It literally means to be enraged. Now maybe you saw this on Black Friday. I watched on Facebook a little bit and I'm glad I was out of that scene of Black Friday and all of what was going on. But when we come to this word, in fact, when the Bible says that God gets angry, the word angry there means that his nostrils get big. in the sense that he is fuming. Boy, stay away from God's anger. And if you're not saved today and you don't know Christ as your Savior, you know what? The wrath of God abides on you. And so we get out from God's anger by coming to Jesus and putting our faith and trust in Him. Now, let's if we could, in your Bibles this morning, Jonah and chapter 4. And when we think about anger, You know, you don't have to take a, you don't have to be a brain surgeon to figure out if somebody's angry. I was reading one time about a fellow in the nursing home. Now I used to be a CNA and I worked in the nursing home for a while and I kind of know what this is about. But there was a guy in a nursing home and he had had a stroke and his language was reduced to one word, good. Now that would be a blessing, wouldn't it? To have one word, good. I mean, you can't swear, you can't do anything like that, just good. But you know what? Anger comes out no matter what language you speak, doesn't it? And so you can say, how are you today? Good. And you know they're angry, don't you? And so you can say what you wanna say, but your countenance and everything else is gonna show a little bit different. And so as we look at that, we find ourselves coming to this place in which we deal with this word anger. Most of the anger that we have in our lives is illegitimate and it's wrong and we need to deal with it. Let's go to Jonah in chapter four. The Bible tells us in verse number one, it is pleased Jonah exceedingly that God had mercy on these people. Can you imagine? But when you go and you study, you'll understand why. And he prayed unto the Lord and he said this, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before you. And he says, I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful and slow to anger and of great kindness and repentant of the evil. And we just say praise the Lord, don't we? But Jonah was saying, I got a problem with that. Therefore, he said, Lord, take my life. It's better for me to die than it is to live. Can you imagine being so angry that you just wanna say that? But then he says in verse four, the Bible says, then said the Lord, doest thou well to be angry? Now, would you just say that with me? Doest thou well to be angry? That's what God asked Jonah. Now, as God asked Jonah this, we find that he's asking a question by saying, listen, do you really think that this anger is getting you to a place at well-being or that you're really doing well in the anger that you have in what you're doing in this place? Some time ago, I'm a painter by trade, and I was painting on this roof. It was about 80 degrees outside in Wisconsin, and sun was up in the 12 o'clock-ish rains. It was beating down on this roof. Have you ever been on a hot roof? I was on the hot roof, I did have a tarp up there, so it was taking away some of that, but I was painting over this A-frame, and underneath that, trying to get this, and I was scraping a little bit, and then I was painting with oil-based primer. Now, if you know anything about oil-based primer, you know it's sticky, and it's gooey, and it drips at just a slow rate, and then it really gets you. And so, when I was painting this, I had to get down on my back, and as I get down on my back, my elbow hits the roof. Ow! And I was thinking to Jonah, do I do well to be angry? And then I paint up on the top and I'm up there like this and then that slow drip comes down. Do I well to be angry? And I'm like, no, I'm okay, Lord, I'm okay. And then a cloud came over and it blocked the sun. And I'm like, oh, thank you, Lord. This is nice. About a minute later, the cloud disappeared. Sun come back down, beating on my face. Now I got chips falling on me and the different things going on that way, and it's just over and over again the whole time. And then, in the midst of all this, a gray cloud comes over. And guess what? Yeah, rain. And so, in the midst of all of this, I had to keep asking myself, am I well to be angry? You know, we get angry over the dumbest things, don't we? And we really lose our joy. That's what the pastor was talking about this morning. We lose our joy. Here we get angry over these things in this way. I was at a ball game. We have a lot to do at Little League. And I was at a ball game, and this little boy, he gets up, and he swings the bat. It was a good swing. He missed it. Swang again, missed it. Swang again, missed it. You know, three strikes, you're out, right? Mama, over in the stands, yells at the top of her lungs. Hey, hit the ball next time! I'm like, the kid's only seven years old. What is the problem? And everybody looks over there in that way, and you know what, we find ourselves getting upset and doing these things in such a way that it really makes us look like the fool. Proverbs chapter 14 and verse number 17, The Bible tells us here that when we find ourselves dealing foolishly in that way, Proverbs 14 and verse 17, he says, he that is soon angry deals foolishly. And that woman, she was dealing foolishly, wasn't she? I love going to the t-ball games. Parents don't care what they just like to see the kid being cute. But after that, it's all over. And so what we find is that we find ourselves dealing foolishly too. For example, here you are, you're watching your TV show. I know it's only one hour a week, right? You go and you watch that TV show, and as you're watching that, you're just focused. You're laser focused. And your child walks in front of the TV. Hey, what are you doing in front of the TV? Get out, that's my best part. Do you do well to be angry? We find ourselves in that place, you know. Yeah, we say yes. Hey, you know what? This is what God said to Jonah. Do you well to be angry when you're watching that TV show and something comes in, you know, something works in the way. And you know, when we think about this, we understand this, that in Titus chapter one, he lays out the plan for every man. And these are the qualifications for a man. You really want to be a man, you follow after those things. One of them is this, be not soon angry. We really need to get a hold of our tempers, don't we? When we find ourselves in all these areas, we find ourselves every day dealing with something. For example, you look at your checkbook and you look at it and you get angry because you see where the money's going. I know it's, you say, well, it's the wife. She spent the money. She's got that issue. And then of course, she looks at you and say, yep, he's the one that got the issue. And so all of a sudden, we've got a problem, don't we? How many times do we get angry over money? Do you well to be angry? How about just sitting down, dealing with that problem, talking about the things that his pastor did. He was just talking about work and monies and so forth this morning. How many times have you gone into your son's room and looked at it and you went out screaming mad? Went out like a hound dog after your son or your daughter. How many times have you gone in the bathroom and you saw your husband and your wife's things, they were all messed up. Don't they know how to put the toothpaste away? Don't they know how to pick up their own clothes? Why do I have to keep on doing this? Do you well to be angry? Listen, there are times when we should be angry about certain things, but listen, most of the time it's illegitimate. Most of the time it's wrong. Most of the time we need to find ourselves coming back at a place at which we guard our own selves in this way. Proverbs chapter 15 and verse number 18, He tells us here, a wrathful man stirs up strife, but he that is slow to anger appeases strife. You see, we need to really ask ourselves the question, are we soon angry? We need to not be soon angry in this way in finding ourselves coming to this place at which we are slow to anger. How many times you've been in a restaurant and you've made your order and it comes back the wrong way? And what do you do? You say, oh, that's okay, sweetheart. You just go on back. We waited 20 minutes and we'll wait 20 minutes more. Do you well to be angry? How many times have we found ourself jealous because of what someone else has and it produces this anger in us? You see, David had this. Remember when David went and he slew the giant, and then all of a sudden all the people are saying, you know what, Saul has slain his thousands, but David his what? 10,000. Oh, that produced some jealousy in it, didn't it? The Bible says that Saul got angry. And so here we find ourselves getting angry about some of those things. Now, Ecclesiastes, the Bible tells us here in Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 9, he says that Anger here rests in the bosom of fools. Boy, do we ever look foolish when we find ourselves getting angry, don't we? When we find ourselves sitting down, we have the computer problem. How many times have you gotten angry at your computer? Or because of the computer, because of some device. Everybody's got a cell phone. How many times have you wanted to throw that thing across the room? And we have to sit back and say, do I well to be angry? I mean, look at what Christ did, look at what He's done, and look at what He had to go through, and do we see Him being angry except for righteously? Do we? No, we don't. And so we find ourselves now coming to this place in which we want to control and we want to face that anger in that way by asking ourselves the question, do we well to be angry? Now listen, I love driving in Durand, Wisconsin. We have two traffic lights. and the speed limit tops is 30 miles an hour. And I drive out on this mess? I cannot imagine the road rage that happens in Dickinson, Texas. But again, do we well to be angry? I mean, I told Katie and Sean, I said, when I get in there and I'm thankful for the van and driving, when I get out there, I'm just a Sunday driver. That's all I am, I'm just driving. It's like, I don't care how long it takes me to get where I'm going, I just wanna get there. You know, because anger isn't gonna help us any, is it? Especially not on the road. James chapter one and verse number 19. First of all, we want to be not soon angry. Secondly, we want to be slow to wrath. The Bible says here in the book of James, he says, wherefore my beloved brethren, he said, let every man be swift to do what? here, but slow to do what? Speak, first of all, and then slow to wrath. Be slow to wrath. You see, we oftentimes, we get quick to be angry, don't we? We find ourselves, for example, when someone gets away with something and we don't feel like they should get away with it, we get upset, especially if it's a brother or sister who did us wrong. or someone else who did us wrong in that way. And so we find that there's a need for justice. Say, has that ever happened in the Bible? Oh, yes. Ever happened with me? Oh, yes. You remember in the book of Luke, in the prodigal son. Remember the prodigal returns, and boy, we're all shouting, hallelujah, thank you, God, for the prodigal, he returns, and he's forgiven and all of that. And the other brother, he's sitting up there stewing, isn't he? He's stewing because, well, I didn't get it all like that. not realizing that he had everything at his fingertips. And so we get upset because we're jealous because somebody else didn't get what they wanted or what they deserved and things that way. We might find ourselves getting this wrath built up and all of a sudden it comes on and this anger comes because somebody confronts you about something. Somebody accuses you about something. Somebody slanders your name. Somebody takes an opportunity and assumes something about you, and you know it's not true. But you don't have time to respond. You don't have time to come back and say, no, no, it's not true, that's not right. Has anyone ever been in a situation like that before? I mean, we find ourselves getting in that place, and somebody says something, and you know, this happened with David. Over in 1 Samuel, chapter 17, And verse number 28, the Bible tells us here, David went down, remember he went down to see what was going on because he wanted to get glory to God. The Bible says that Eliab, his brother, came, he says, why did you come down hither? And he says, with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? In other words, you left your job to come down here. And he says, I know your pride. He said, I know the naughtiness of your heart. Don't you love those Bible words, naughtiness? I love Bible words. The superfluity of naughtiness. Don't you just love that? I love that. Purloining. Have you ever heard the word purloining? It's a wonderful word. It's not good to do, but it's a wonderful word. Here he says, in the naughtiness of your heart, for thou art come down that thou mightest see about. You just came down, you wanted to see all the blood and the guts. And he was accused of that. And we have people that are gonna come and they're gonna accuse us of something. They're gonna say something about you that's not true. And oftentimes, our first inclination is to get upset because they are assuming something that is not true. I always say to myself, one of the best evidences of a person who's mature in their faith is they don't feel like they have to defend anything because they know what's true. I don't feel like I have to go and explain everything. I know God's going to handle that. He knows what's true. And so, doest thou well to be angry? No. And so we find, especially when other people, they may get upset at us too. We may find they get angry with us and it stirs up other anger. Somebody comes in the room and you're not angry and all of a sudden they're angry and now you're angry. And we have to ask, do we well to be angry? When things don't go our way, boy do we get angry. You miss your turn off, the computer doesn't work right, the kids aren't behaving, you can't get to church on time, your Bible fell in the water, whatever the case might be, something comes up and it's crazy the things that will come up that really the devil wants us to see that anger come out and just lose our joy. Do you well to be angry. Here at Proverbs chapter 17 and verse number 4, here the Bible tells us that you and I are really to leave off contention before it ever can be meddled with here. Proverbs 17 and verse number 14. And here the Bible tells us, the beginning of strife is when one lets out water, therefore leave off contention before it can be meddled with. Listen, do we well to be angry? No. Let's leave it off. You see, when you got up this morning and you went to get your cosmetics and put on your face and so forth, and it wasn't there, It's like, oh no, what am I gonna do? And we find ourselves getting angry because now something's not there. When you get up this morning, you wanted to wear that particular outfit and it was in the dirty clothes. Oh, watch out. When you went out to get in the car and you were looking for your keys, where were they? Did anyone lose your keys this morning? Oh, look at that, see? And rather than just praying to God, because he knows where your keys are, doesn't he? Rather than praying to God about those keys, we find ourselves just storming around, looking, throwing, I mean, I'd like to see your house this morning to see what's torn out and what's, we'll see. And you know, we come back later and we gotta put it all back together and it's like, oh, I'm sorry, God, I know you, you know, but do we weld to be angry? No. And so we find ourselves at that point, you know, oftentimes we get angry because we feel like we're being treated unfairly. You remember what Jesus said? He was given a parable and he said, you know, one guy, he was, he needed some work. And so he went out and he brought this guy in and he told him, I'll give you a penny for a day. And then later on in the day, about the 11th hour, he was still pulling guys in saying, I'll give you a penny for the day. And then at the end, those that came in first, they thought, hey, you know what? We've been toiling here for 12 hours in the heat of the day. We should get more money than those guys who just went in here for an hour. And they all got the same. And you know what? They were upset, weren't they? Listen, we can get upset over the wages. We can get upset over not having more than what we think we deserve. But are we working for what we promised and what we agreed to? Okay. Then do we well to be angry? Here, that's not where they were. Proverbs chapter 19 and verse number 11 tells us, the discretion of a man defers his anger. And it is his glory to pass over a transgression. Okay, so now somebody does something wrong to us. And they wrong us in that way. Listen, do we well to be angry? I was reading about a pastor who was driving with his wife and his four children into the Chicago area. And someone came and they blindsided them. The van tipped over and big crash. And when he came to, he looked over at his dead wife. And he looked back at his dead child. And the first thought that came to his mind was, God, I don't know how this happened and why this happened, and I don't know who was in that other vehicle or what was going on in their life, but I forgive them. Do we well to be angry? It doesn't do us good. Proverbs chapter 16 and verse number 32, we find that We also here need to be in control. Proverbs chapter 16 and verse number 32, he says, he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty. And he that rules his spirit is better than he that takes a city. Listen, you wanna be strong in your life? Then rule your own spirit. that has allowed God by His own grace to rule your spirit in that way. We need to, if you would, be in control in that we're not flying off in anger. How many children, listen, I talked to someone not too long ago and they were saying, I have PTSD or whatever that thing is when you come back from a war. They said, is that what it is, PTSD or something like that? And so they were saying, I have that. And I said, how did you get that? My parents argued all the time. Now he was serious. My parents argued all the time. Now me, I'm looking, listen, go get a life. But for him, it was real. Because he was looking at angry people all the time. Do you wail to be angry? Do you wail to show that anger in front of your children? Do you wail to show that in front of your spouse? See, oftentimes we lose the rule of our spirit when we find ourselves getting behind and we can't keep up with the demands of others. I mean, if you work in a McDonald's or Burger King or some fast food joint in that respect, you find yourself, you're always on demand, aren't you? And you can get to a place at which you can just throw up your arms and say, I quit. Because demands are so high. But we need to rule our spirit in that way. Especially when someone doesn't behave the way that we think they should behave. Or they don't think the way that we think they should think. I was sitting with my wife earlier, I was telling her, I said, these people, they're just so happy, I don't even know why I'm preaching this message. But I realize that this is what God wants, and so hopefully that will help. But in the midst of it, I said, isn't this something? I said, they're up here and they're practicing their music, and everybody's just getting along, and boy, it just meshes really well. And then all of a sudden, the pastor said, now, what about this? What about this particular verse and how come we're not all on the same page? And I looked at her and I said, now let's watch. And of course, there really wasn't anything to watch. It was good. Everything worked out well. But you know what? The reason I was thinking about this is because she said, isn't this something when they just can't read our minds? Because the pastor was up there and he was saying, yeah, but this, but this. And everyone else was like, yeah, but this and this. And sometimes we just get upset because people aren't reading our minds. because they can't figure out what we really want. Now, he didn't. He's a godly example, and I'm thankful for that. And in the midst of it, we find ourselves, though, asking ourselves, is that me? Do I get upset when other people don't agree with me and don't have the same thinking as I do, don't want to go the same place as I do, or don't ever listen to me? I'll tell you something. One of the things that I've learned to do as a pastor is listen. And I'll tell you why. Because people don't want to hear my problems. They really don't. Now if you're like all kinds of people across the world, then you'll find yourself being more readily available to talk about the things that you want more than you are about listening to what other people have going on in their life. We need to switch that around somehow, don't we? You know, I do this every once in a while. I sat with one of the fellows in the church, and as we were talking, I said, you know what? I'm just gonna be transparent with him for just a minute. I'm gonna see where this goes. And so I began to explain something in my life that was going on, and you know what happens? It triggers something in their mind, a situation that goes on in their mind. And we do this all the time. For example, you say, boy, I was in a car accident this week, and all of a sudden you're like, I was in an accident once, and boy, and we go on and on, and now we forget about the other person. And that's exactly what happened in that situation. But that's what happens with us. You say, what'd you do? I acted like a pastor should. And as a Christian should. And I loved him anyway. Because it's not really about me. And I didn't really need to tell him my problems and the things that were going on that way. But what we do need to realize is that I don't need to get upset just because somebody else is talking. Because somebody else is interrupted. Because somebody else has a burden and they wanna share it and that's all about them. You know what, when they get right and their fellowship with God is restored, we're gonna find them listening to somebody else's problems. and they're gonna help them. So do I well to be angry? Absolutely not. Jonah chapter four. Jonah comes before God, and God comes before Jonah in this way. As he speaks to him, God says, listen, do you do well to be angry? In fact, down in verse number four, he says that, do you well to be angry? The Bible says down three verses later, or four verses, five verses later, verse number nine, he said this, and God said again to Jonah, Do you well to be angry? He said it twice to him. Here in this situation, we have to ask ourselves, does it do me well? Listen, does it do your health well when you get angry? Does it do your mind and your head? Does it do you well? Does it do your finances well to be angry? Uh-uh. I have a hole in my wall at home. It's just there and it's a reminder, not of my anger, but of one of the children's anger when they came and they got angry and they punched a wall. Listen, it doesn't do us good financially to punch a wall. How many times you've been angry when you're in your car and you got a speeding ticket? or you got in an accident or something else happened. Listen, it doesn't do us well in that way. So we have to ask this question, does it do us well to be angry? Jonah would have been a lot further ahead if he would have looked to the God who he described in verse number two of chapter four when he said, God, you are merciful and you are slow to anger. He would have been a whole lot better to go and to emulate the God whom he had already praised and honored for being slow to anger because God was slow to anger with him and he's slow to anger with us, isn't he? Listen, if I got what I deserved, if you got what you deserved, I tell you what, I'm so glad that God is slow to be angry. Ephesians chapter four and verse number 26, the Bible tells us, Be angry and sin not. Let not the sun settle upon your wrath. That is, don't let tonight go by before you settle any anger issues that you might have. It's not going to work out well tomorrow. It's not going to work out well into the future in that way. You see, we might feel that our gratitude has been cheapened. Someone has said some things about us that weren't right. We might feel that when we're at that ball game that, boy, they made some bad calls. How many times have people gotten upset over just bad calls at ball games or sports events or things like that? It astounds me. You know, when I teach the kids and I coach baseball, I tell the kids, the first thing I tell them, I said, one other thing, the umpires, they are always right. Always right. And so you have no need to ever challenge what an umpire says, because they are always right. Now they're not always right, we know that. But when it comes to this, because we don't want to get angry about that. We don't want to lose the whole joy of playing the game. And we don't want to lose the joy of our Christian walk and our Christian life by being upset over some dumb thing. I was in my office one day trying to get my printer to work. And all it was saying, check, recheck, check, recheck, check, print, nope, no paper. Put paper in, check, recheck, on and on. It was just a big thing. And you know what? These things come every day, don't they? When we get done here this morning, you're gonna find something that the devil's gonna put in your way, because he's, as a roaring lion, he's out there seeking who he may devour, and he's seeking to get you angry. And you're gonna find something to get angry about. But listen, do you well to be angry? You ask yourself the question, do you well to be angry? You see, Moses, we find that he came out of the wilderness. The pastor's teaching about that in Sunday school. And he came out of the wilderness, and he was doing great. But then he got angry, didn't he? And he smote the rock. And there were consequences that came. Listen, do you well to be angry? Moses didn't do well to be angry there. But we must find ourselves saying, listen Lord, I don't want to live in that way. Now we're not even talking about an angry person. That's a whole different subject. We're just talking about the fact that we get angry. And there are things that upset us. And really, we wanna live in the joy of the Lord, not in the anger of Satan and the anger of the world and all of that. There's a whole lot of anger going on in this world, isn't there? But listen, when you got saved, Christ took the anger out of the heart. And so now we ask ourselves, listen, do I really wanna be like that one who has saved me? Do I wanna trust him to take care of this anger that I feel when things don't go my way? You know, we talk about great losses. You can have the greatest loss. I was writing a letter back home concerning my wife being in the hospital. And someone said, well, are you upset? And I'm like, why would I be upset? This is exactly what God wants. We're in God's plan. You know, what I want is I want to be with my wife. And so, okay, I was there. And that was great. And you say, well, didn't you have any anger the whole week? Nope, I didn't. I really didn't. And the reason is because God knows best. And I just want to follow in His plan. You know, I love it when David says, make me to lie down in green pastures. I love it when God makes me do things. And so here he made me be in a hospital. I was supposed to go home this past week. He made me stay in Texas. Praise God. God knows what he's doing, doesn't he? Nehemiah 9 and verse 17 down the middle part of it he says this, Now we need to look at our God who is slow to anger and in Psalm 103 and verse number 8 he says this, The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger. Now aren't you glad when God in his word repeats something over and over again so you really get it? Like do us that well to be angry, he said twice to Jonah. Well here he says God is slow to anger so many times. Here in Psalm 103, in verse number eight, he says God is slow to anger and plenty in what? Mercy. Well, aren't you glad for that? Because when we do get angry, guess what we need? God is slow to anger, plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide, neither will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. Listen, the next time you get angry, you ask yourself, listen, did I get rewarded according to my sin and my iniquity and my transgressions? Uh-uh. God in His blessing, God in His grace, He blessed you. He had mercy upon you. He forgave you. Joel in chapter 2, down in verse number 13, he says, And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God. For he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. He says this, turn unto the Lord your God. Listen, when we find ourselves getting ready to be angry, and we find that circumstance, and we find that situation, whatever it is, whether it's a paper cut, or whether it's a car accident, whether it's a loss of someone, or whether it's a loss of wage, or whether it's you don't get your way that you think you should, whatever it is, we need to turn immediately unto the Lord. We need to look to Him, the one who is slow to anger, and say, Lord, you know what? You're slow to anger. I need to be that way too. Why do I need to be that way? Because He is our help and He is our shield, isn't He? And because of this, in Philippians chapter two and verse number five, the Bible says this. It says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Listen, we want to be like the Lord, don't we? We want to show him, we want to act like him, we want to follow in his steps. And he says, let this mind, let the way that the Lord thinks, let you be thinking that way. Do I well to be angry? I asked myself that question many, many times. Do I well to be angry? We got done at the hospital last night. We came home, and needless to say, there was a mix-up in the prescription for Brenda. And so we went to a store, and they were supposed to be 24-hour, and they weren't. So they had all our prescription. We then traveled to Texas City and got one of the prescriptions when we thought we got all three. And not only that, they left our medical card, and they didn't give it back to us, and we didn't realize that until we got back home. And so now we come back home, and all of a sudden, it's like, you know what? You just want to be angry. But we don't need to be, do we? It's like, what is anger going to do in a situation like that? Absolutely nothing. We just wanna be joyful in the Lord. Happy is the people whose God is the Lord. The Bible tells us here in Jonah, doest thou well to be angry. Let's just pray for a moment, shall we? Father, I thank you for this time. Thank you for these people. Thank you for the pastor. And thank you most of all for the Lord Jesus Christ. thank you for your word and the fact that you speak to my own heart and challenge me in areas that i think i stand but i need to take heed lest i fall especially here when it comes to just the simple circumstances in life that cause me to be angry lord i pray that you would help me help all of us today that we'd ask ourselves that question, I would, do I well to be angry. Thank you God for your grace, your mercy, and your love and your forgiveness in helping us in the midst of these times as we pray now in Jesus' name, amen.