Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end. – Proverbs 29:11 (NIV)

A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. – Proverbs 29:11 (KJV)

52 Proverbs in 52 Weeks – Week 44
This week’s theme:  God’s Life Hacks, simple Biblical truths to increase the fruitfulness and happiness of our lives.

God’s Life Hack:  Stay Calm

We all get angry from time to time. It’s inevitable. Someone says something unkind or hurtful. A project we’re working on doesn’t go well.  Something we like breaks or stops working. Someone cuts us off in traffic and drives like a maniac (I live near Washington DC, so I had to include this one). Whatever the cause, the truth is that there’s just no way to avoid it…we’re going to get mad some times.

What we can control, however, is how we respond to that anger.

That’s what this week’s verse is all about, and it complements our previous verses on this topic (see Guard Your Mouth and A Gentle Answer).  Solomon breaks it down to two basic choices.  When we sense our anger building up, we can:
1.  lash out, “give full vent to [our] rage,” and make the situation worse – Solomon calls this the response of fools.
2.  hold our tongues, stay cool, and attempt to “bring calm in the end” – Solomon calls this the response of the wise.

Unfortunately, we see option #1 play out way too often in our society today.  It’s become acceptable, and even trendy, to “give full vent” on social media, on talk shows, and at public events.  This upcoming week, for example, we will likely (and sadly) see this behavior on full display.  We have a series of major elections across our country on Tuesday.  No matter how the individual elections play out, one side will be disappointed.  And those who are disappointed have a choice in how they respond.  Some will handle that disappointment well, hold their tongues, and stay calm…the response of the wise.  Others will become angry and they’ll choose the “full vent” option…the response of fools.

Again, the truth is that we’re going to get angry from time to time.  We can’t avoid it, but we can choose how we respond to it.
We can join the fools and vent…
…or we can stay calm and walk with the wise.

Here’s a link to more verse posts on  God’s Life Hacks.

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