The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. – Psalm 103: 8

When God gets ready to move, it doesn’t take Him long to do so. He said: “Let there be light and there was light.” After Jonah jumped overboard, He sent a great fish to swallow him whole before he could take a breath or swallow so much as a teaspoon of sea water. When the three Hebrew men were thrown in the fiery furnace, God dispatched His Son to neutralize the flames before the men’s feet ever hit the floor. When God wants to move, it doesn’t take Him long to do so. He can move quick, fast and in a hurry. For the most part, that’s a good thing. However, there is at least one time when none of us want God to move quickly. That is to say, when it comes to being angry with us, we really would rather that He did not move at all.

Who among us could stand His anger and the unfathomable wrath which might accompany it? Thank the Lord that a part of our believer’s benefit package is that while we may not be able to avoid God getting angry, when He does get angry, He is slow to anger.

His abounding mercy and His amazing grace put the brakes on His fury. They delay His rightful rampage. They postpone His punishment. Hallelujah! God is slow to anger! This is a benefit claim which most of us have already filed and used more than once. Therefore, let us be slow to sin and quick to obey Him thereby giving Him no reason to be angry with us in the first place.