My title for this devotion is InstaPot vs Slow Cooker.

One of Jo’s favorite kitchen gadgets is her InstaPot. I’m not a kitchen aficionado by any stretch, but she has explained it to me as a gadget that speeds up the cooking process so that what would take multiple hours to cook can actually be cooked in a fraction of the time. That’s the dumbed-down version for me.  🙂

Now, that is in contrast to the slow cooker or what is called a crock pot. A slow cooker is designed to do just that: to slow cook food. This is one of Tami’s favorite ways to cook. Put something in the slow cooker before you leave for school/work; put it on a timer or on low; and when you come home at the end of the day it is hot and done. Tender. Moist. Same result as the InstaPot but it takes much longer.

That came to mind as I read Proverbs 14:17 this morning: “A man of quick temper acts foolishly, and man of evil devices is hated.” It is that first part that stuck out to me. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have seen people “lose it” and cause all kinds of havoc when, as they say, cooler heads would have prevailed. Battles have been fought; wars have been waged; churches have been split; relationships have been ruined all because someone could not keep their temper in check.

I once had a lady tell me, when I questioned her about her temper, that “people know where I stand and so I say what I got to say and then its over.”  I’d seen the devastation she left behind so I told her, “Yeah. Just like a bomb. You explode and leave all kinds of destruction in your wake.” Yeah…she wasn’t very happy with me. But least she didn’t blow up all over me.

Quick tempers; letting people know how you feel; indiscriminately blowing up; that’ s not good. Proverbs 14 says it is acting foolishly. And who likes to be called a fool? Stay under control. Guard that temper.

“Father, there are different reasons why people lose their temper. Help me not to be one of those people. Help me to keep my emotions and my reactions under control. Your control!”