“And the Lord passed before him, and cried out: The LORD, the LORD, God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness.” Exodus 34:6

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Further reading: Genesis 4:1-8; Ephesians 4:26-27; I Corinthians 13:4-5

God presented himself to Moses as a God slow to anger (Arek). Arek” means patient, in the sense of slow to anger. Anyone who wants to be like God and dominate, that is, who wants to allow nature to find God in him, must absolutely be patient like God, he must be difficult to irritate.

If you are an irritable person, it is because you lack this patience. If you get carried away rather quickly, it’s because you need to take the time to look for AREK. The Bible says that a leader should have patience (2 Timothy 2:24). This indicates that patience can be learned, worked on to the point of mastery. You must, by the Spirit of God, decide to work every aspect of Divine Patience to the point of mastery.

• To be angry is to be offended: But patience “Arek” is difficult to offend. Identify what inevitably offends you, target the things or attitudes that regularly irritate you and choose not to be irritated when these events recur. If you really want to, the Holy Spirit will give you the strength to do so. All anger can be justified, can have a valid reason. But even if you are right, God wants you to remain calm.

• To be angry is to react to an offence: to be slow to anger is not to react. God doesn’t react, He acts. He takes the time to choose the action He will take. We often read in the Bible how Jesus gives answers that seem to have nothing to do with the question asked, as was the case in the story of the adulteress. For the accusers, Jesus had two possible options, but Jesus took his time before answering them.

He did not react, He took the upper hand and steered the debate towards His own path: that of repentance and the salvation of souls. An irritable person reacts. To be slow to anger is to be in action, God’s action. The person who is slow to anger will find God’s response to the problem at hand.

• To be angry is to open a door to the devil: Those who are slow to anger give very little access to demons in their lives. Many believers are tormented by demons because of their irritability. Be less irritable and you will find that the demons of wives and husbands at night, and even nightmares, will no longer agitate you. Be slow to get angry.

• To be slow to anger is quite simply to be slow: slowness is not heaviness or laziness, but taking the time to do things properly. God has the power to create everything in one go, in one word. But He took the time to create each thing in its own time and to appreciate it. At the end of each day of creation, God took the time to contemplate and value His work. Being slow means taking the time to value every aspect of life. The slow person takes the time to chew properly when eating, to sleep well when it’s time to sleep, to wash properly when it’s time to shower, to work hard when it’s time to work. The slowness we’re talking about is the art of doing everything well.

To be slow to anger is not to act hastily, but to act calmly.

• To be angry is to open a door to the devil: those who are slow to anger give very little access to demons in their lives. Many believers are tormented by demons because of their irritability. Be less irritable and you will find that the demons of wives and husbands at night, and even nightmares, will no longer agitate you. Be slow to get angry. 

• Being slow to anger is simply being slow: Slowness is not heaviness or laziness, but taking the time to do things well. God has the power to create everything in one go, in one word. But He took the time to create each thing in its own time and to appreciate it. At the end of each day of creation, God took the time to contemplate and value His work. Being slow means taking the time to value every aspect of life. The slow person takes the time to chew properly when eating, to sleep well when it’s time to sleep, to wash properly when it’s time to shower, to work hard when it’s time to work. Slow is the art of doing everything well.

Being slow means not acting hastily, but acting calmly.

• To be slow to anger is to make the anger go away before acting: That’s what Cain didn’t do. God told him to get a grip on the anger that was lurking outside his back door before he went to speak to his brother. Unfortunately, he didn’t listen to God and attacked his brother before taking out his anger and ending up killing him.

Arek’s opposite impatience will lead you to make bad decisions and destroy many things.

The word slow, according to God, means “taking the time to do it right”. Excessive slowness, like haste, leads to failure.

I will deal with slowness and anger in two parts: (1) Divine Slowness or taking the time to do the right thing, (2) Being freed from human anger for Divine Wrath.

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ACTION FOR THE DAY: Today, work on your self-control; practise not reacting to the different situations you will be faced with. Decide throughout the day (and the days to follow) not to get angry, whatever the situation. Pray to the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of your commitment throughout the day.

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I read my Bible in 1 year: Leviticus 16; Psalms 19; Proverbs 30

This text is an extract from the book “Divine Patience to Possess Hidden Treasures and Resources – In His Image to Dominate 4” written by Mohammed SANOGO.