As a former Boy Scout for a few years, I’m familiar with gathering kindling before starting a campfire. The drier the wood, the quicker you’ll be preparing a hot meal in the wilderness. However, Moses uses kindling in the context of anger. When Potiphar’s wife showed him Joseph’s garment that smelled like it was in his wife’s arms, Potiphar’s wrath was kindled up.
And when [Joseph’s] master heard the words of his wife, saying to him, This is the way your servant treated me, his wrath was kindled. 20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him in the prison, a place where the state prisoners were confined; so he was there in the prison, Genesis 39:19-20.
Perhaps, the words of the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:26-27 serve as a warning against kindling up wrath before it explodes. However, the apostle Paul focuses on anger, not wrath. Paul suggests if you let the sun go down without addressing your anger in a positive manner, you give the Devil a foothold. When this foothold is allowed to linger in your life, anger continues to build and grow.
Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him; fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass. 8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not yourself—it tends only to evildoing, Psalm 37:7-8.
David addresses kindled wrath in the passage above. Sometimes you can be our own worst enemy, slowly filling human hearts with a spirit of impatience. Rather than let impatience simmer, place your trust fully in the Lord. Therefore, the next time you feel like you’re going to unload on someone, following King David’s advice in the passage above so that civility will reign.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 