The Sudden Provocation

For today’s meditation I want to direct your attention to an outstanding quote from the writings of C. S. Lewis:

“Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is. If there are rats in a cellar, you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats; it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way, the suddenness of the provocation does not make me ill-tempered; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am.”

Does that sting or does that sting? Most any person, even an ill-tempered one can display a nice disposition when everything is going his way and nothing is provoking him. Our true disposition is really revealed in the trying circumstances of life, in those circumstances that cross our wills and provoke us.

Charity, which is Christian love, is the crowning characteristic of a true Christain. Paul calls charity “a more excellent way” (1Corinthians 12:31), “the bond of perfectness” (Colossians 3:14) and “the end (fulfillment) of the commandment” (1Timothy 1:5). Christian love is love that is patterned after the example of Christ.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

To love another after the example of Christ is what shows us to be His disciples. And being a disciple of Christ is being a Christian.

Acts 11:26 ….And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

In 1Corinthians Paul defines charity by listing its characteristics. In the heart of these characteristics we find this:

1Corinthians 13:4-5 Charity…seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked….

In not seeking her own charity puts the good of others before herself. Satan is always tempting us to put our self-interest ahead of the interest of God and others. Consider that envy, vaunting, being puffed up, and unseemly behaviour, the things that charity does not do (1Corinthians 13:4-5), all proceed from self-interest and self-serving. In contrast, our Lord Jesus Christ said: “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38). This was His very meat.

John 4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

Fulfilling the ministry that he had received of the Lord Jesus was dearer to the apostle Paul than his very own life.

Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Such self-denial is the very crux of Christian discipleship.

Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

And it is such self-denial that will kill out those rats in the cellar that are discovered when you suddenly enter upon the scene.

Now right after Paul says “charity seeketh not her own,” he says charity “is not easily provoked.”

Provoked – ppl. a. Irritated, angry, annoyed.

This characteristic of charity logically follows upon the fact that charity “seeketh not her own.” When doing our own will, having our way is our foremost concern, we set ourselves up to be easily provoked. Consider how much our Lord, the great Exemplar of charity, endured without lashing back in anger, as we are all too often apt to do.

1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously….

  

So if you find you are easily or suddenly provoked, consider in the provocation how much your own self-interest is being crossed. Perhaps you are just too much into serving yourself and looking out for your interests rather than those of God and others. None of us would get angry as much as we do if we just weren’t so easily provoked. And none of us would be so easily provoked if we weren’t so into ourselves, our wants, our plans, and our feelings.

Now notice that it does not say that charity is not provoked at all. It is just not easily provoked. There is a place for anger. But that place is not right away or suddenly at the slightest provocation.

Proverbs 14:17 He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated.

Proverbs 12:16 A fool's wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame.

James 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

20     For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Lastly, it should be apparent from these foregoing verses that God holds us responsible for our anger and commands us to deal with it. We often like to blame our anger on others when they provoke us. But that did not work for Moses when others provoked him to anger.

Psalms 106:32 They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:

33 Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

God still judged Moses for his outburst of anger and so will He judge us.