Gold Nugget
Verse 32: “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his
spirit than he who takes a city.”
Commentary
I have
worked for years in the industrial field and have installed hundreds of safety
valves. Depending on the facility that I worked in, it may have
been referred to as a Pressure Safety Valve (PSV) or
A Relief Valve (RV), etc. A safety valve is designed with a set
pressure at which it will open itself and release it's pressure and contents,
either to atmosphere or into a particular controlled location. It is commonly
installed in pipe systems, tanks, vessels, etc. If you want to see what
one looks like, take a look at your water heater. There will be a small brass
valve on the side near the top or directly on the top. Just like the systems in
the industrial industry, your water heater has this safety device that is
installed to prevent ruptures and or explosions. The safety valve on my water
heater has some pipe coming off of that is open ended to the floor. Some safety
valves are open ended without any pipe on them. Mine is designed to open at
either 150psi or 210 degrees. Because water heaters do just what their name implies,
it has a heat source. Your water heater's heat source can be adjusted to where
it heats the water to a certain temperature and then stops heating. If
something was broke that keep the water heating, it would keep heating and
rising in pressure until it reached 150psi. The pressure safety valve would then open and send hot water blasting out.
When
installing these safety valves in the industrial field, I knew that it was
extremely important that these safety valves were installed in the correct
lines. If I installed a valve in a line that needed to vent at a
certain pressure, but the valve was designed to vent at a higher pressure,
the line could rupture or explode. Likewise, if I installed a 150psi safety
valve in a line that was designed to operate at 225psi, the line would never
reach it's necessary operating pressure and be useless.
All of
us have a "set pressure" at which we must vent. If we do not have a
"safety valve", when we reach that point we will rupture or explode.
My safety valve works like this; when I am under heat or pressure to the point
that I may rupture, I shut down the entire system. I don't try to back the
pressure down, adjust the heat or anything to moderate or control it. I just
shut the whole thing down. I will walk away, completely stop talking or
some equivalent. Again, this is when I am nearing the rupture pressure. I
know when that is. It's the point where I want to just start getting in the
flesh and saying things to hurt. Over the years, the Lord as steadily adjusted that set
pressure to allow me to handle more heat and pressure before I need to vent.
I'm not talking about an unhealthy "holding things in", but a
healthy resistance to anger. It's important that we know our set pressure
and ensure that our release of the frustration and anger is controlled.
God is faithful,
who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the
temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to
bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13b)
Prayer
Lord,
please help me to learn to be slow to anger. Help me to remember that how I
react to these things can damage my testimony or bring glory to you. I want to
be able to endure hardships and bring glory to your name.
Amen
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