Out of control

A recent trip to Malaysia led me to read the New Straits
Times, 12 December 2001.

The headline was "Motorist loses earlobe in assault by road
bully....

A motorist lost his right earlobe after he was bitten by a
motorcyclist following an argument over a road incident at Jalan Raja Di Hilir
here yesterday....

The driver claimed he and a friend were driving along the
road when a motorcyclist overtook them and slowed down immediately in front of
the vehicle at 10am.

'The incident almost caused a collision and the driver
overtook the motorcycle and this sparked off a quarrel,' he added.

The motorcyclist is said to have lifted his leg to kick the
car and in retaliation the driver showed a vulgar sign....

The 29-year-old motorcyclist assaulted the companion with a
crash helmet and lunged on to the driver and bit off his earlobe...."

This incident reminded me of a number of folk who claim to be
Christian and yet under times of stress and provocation could even themselves
stoop to such a level of assaulting another driver.

It is interesting to note that many folk are beautiful in
church but once they get in behind the wheel of a car, they become another
person altogether.

To any readers who are sufferers of a bad temper or
exorbitant anger, we recommend the reading of a verse from Proverbs 16:32: "He
that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that
ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."

It is not when things are going well that the test is on, but
when things are not going well in the midst of a crisis, that God takes careful
note as to our progress on whether we are getting better or worse in our
behaviour.