Every accident I have been involved in has occurred when I got angry about something that was simple and avoidable. The first one was caused by getting angry because I did not know the location where I was going and the person that I was taking did not either.

I expected the person that I was taking to the doctor to know all of the ins and outs of where we were going. I missed a convenient turn. I knew ahead of time that I was taking them. I should have pressed them for the address and given myself more time for errors. Afterall, the person was ill. That is why I was driving them.

Most human conflict such as shattered marriages, and ruined friendships are likely rooted in some form of unmanaged anger. Selfishness and power plays, unresolved misunderstandings, slights and counter-aggression are sometimes the culprit.

Yet Ecclesiastes offers wisdom, “Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools” (7:9). It is foolish to have a short fuse and be easily provoked to anger, especially when God offers a better way—perhaps through “the rebuke of a wise person” (v.5).

Pursuing wisdom, we can “let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts” (Colossians 3:5). We can live in wisdom and forgiveness as He helps us. So instead of getting angry when the driver crosses four lanes on I-285 to make their exit, I thank God that I was not hit. Prayer works.

When I was being taught how to drive, I remember the words I was taught over fifty years ago. “When you get behind the wheel of a car, you have to drive for yourself and every one around you.”

Expect others to do the worse, after all, you are the best driver.  Before you left home, in that prayer you should have prayed for travelling mercies and for everyone you encountered.

Do not let the person behind you dictate a risky move. If you get hit or hit someone else, you do not get a free “get out of jail” ticket by telling the judge the person behind you were blowing their horn.”