“The old-fashioned rule of counting to ten is good, but often the time frame is not adequate.”

A thought by Lisa Bevere, from her book, Be Angry, But Don’t Blow It (p.13) Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

It may not be enough time.

Lisa says, “It’s worth noting again: Our first response when angered should be to turn away momentarily, mentally or physically, so we can separate the offense from the offender. The old-fashioned rule of counting to ten is good, but often the time frame is not adequate. Once we have stepped aside from the conflict, then we need to ask, ‘Why am I so upset?’ ‘What is really going on inside me?’ ‘Do I need to take some time to answer these questions?’”

Ephesians 4:6 (NIV) says, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.”

She goes on, “The idea of anger being temporary also corresponds to God’s admonition ‘Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.’ This is not because of some problem with the dark. All of us have found ourselves upset after the sun has set because we are still awake long after the sun goes down. I believe the sun going down means the end of your day or an appropriate amount of time. When anger exceeds the temporary or transitory stage then it progresses toward the destructive ledge of being angry and sinning. Time and anger are intertwined. The longer an offense goes unresolved, the more deep-seated it becomes. Then the heart becomes a hotbed for a root of bitterness.”

And we don’t want that, do we?  So, we need to do something about it as soon as possible, don’t we?

Yes, yes!