Slow to anger

The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Nahum 1.3

How little we think of God. We consider him to be like us.

We don't understand it when he allows bad things to happen or evil people to prosper. We assume that he is either powerless to intervene or just doesn't care. We couldn't be more wrong!

His power has no limit. The whirlwind and the storm are not alien to him. He walks with ease through that which we can only gaze up at in awe. He wants for nothing. With one word he could destroy all the wickedness that mankind could ever dream up. He has the power!

So he lacks the motivation then. He just can't be bothered. He doesn't care enough. Yet he will not clear the guilty. He cannot allow those who have wronged him to go unpunished. He can't forget about sin. He won't forget about sin. He is too good to allow bad. His motivation is greater than ours could ever be.

We claim to despise the evil in the world and yet we all paddle around in it in our own little ways. We call it harmless and then taste surprise when people get hurt. When we get hurt. We know we shouldn't do it, but we do and the more we do, the more natural it seems. We grow so used to it we no longer see it as a problem. We grow to love it in ourselves, but hate it in others. We grow angry at God and demand justice. Only we don't want too much justice. We don't want to be punished ourselves. Just the really wicked people. A little evil is fine. Our lives suggest it is we who want injustice, not him.

We must be thankful he is slow to anger. Thankful that he doesn't want to destroy a species that craves its own destruction. We despise the mercy that stays his hand. Think that he doesn't care. Only he cares more than we could understand. He doesn't want to destroy us, even though we are guilty through and through. He wants to save us.

He will not just clear the guilty, but he can move the guilt. Move it to one who is innocent. He can and he did. He is slow to anger, that we might be quick to trust him.

Quick to realise that we have an undeserved way of escape.