Dave Dishman

The bank below our office plans to move later this year. Not enough traffic through this particular branch. The bank’s vault, however, will remain in place. My coworkers and I have been scheming about what to do with an empty vault. Store ministry materials? Lock up our snacks overnight? Use it for private calls, but will wireless signals penetrate the walls?

A vault protects tangible property. Cash, bonds, deeds, contracts, jewels and family heirlooms. We entrust important and valuable items to the safety of thick walls and strong locks. Fire cannot penetrate and thieves cannot break in and steal.

Peter wrote to a scattered audience suffering for their commitments to Jesus. He encouraged them to hang tough and reminded them of the vault in which their most valuable possession lay: Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

My soul pines for a place of depth and composure. The world around me offers fleeting pleasures, but my spirit skips from one to another like a moth fluttering against a bare bulb.

My eternal soul forms the most precious item in my possession. For this priceless asset the Lord offers a vault no thief breaches and no fire consumes. Only he knows the combination to the lock. If I hand over my soul to his care he guards it until the end of my days and beyond. I just have to walk in and make the deposit.

1 Peter 4:19

Photo by Jason Dent

The decline and fall of the twin nations of Israel and Judah took several generations. A people favored by God, led out of captivity by his own hand and blessed with abundant resources, they frittered away the Lord’s favor and protection.

At the end of the story a succinct recap appears: The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

The recipe for societal failure? Despise the words of God and mock his messengers. The Lord sent prophet after prophet to coax his people back. At times certain leaders reversed course, but these interludes proved short-lived. Eventually the whole mess got dumped in the trash.

Of course, not really the whole mess. A minority never left the Lord. A populace gone sour simply overwhelmed them. God eventually restored a remnant to Israel, but merely as citizens of a subjugated nation under the heels of others.

I find a personal lesson embedded in this ancient account. Today, as in antiquity, despising God’s words is madness. The Lord who was so patient and compassionate with his people back in the day carries the same patience and compassion to me. If I hold the words of God in contempt I invite disaster. If I embrace those same teachings I discover life. As always, it’s my choice.

2 Chronicles 16:15-16

Photo by Emir Aydın

Years ago I worked with a young wrestler in Missouri. Collegiate wrestlers lift weights, run sprints, eat right and grapple with teammates, all in anticipation of forcing their next opponent into submission. You don’t want to get into a fight with a wrestler.

My friend dealt with anger and aggression, which works on the mat but not so much in the dorm. Some guys down the hall mocked him for his faith, called him names and kept him up at night. Finally, in Hulk-like fashion he picked one up over his head (he was a heavyweight) and tossed him down the hall. The mocking stopped. No one was hurt, no charges pressed, and my friend emerged a hero. Turns out these knuckleheads ridiculed all their neighbors.

But the next day the hero burst into tears when he told me the story. He took his faith seriously and wanted to live as a committed disciple of Jesus. He hoped to express his faith to those around him. Instead, his wrath ascended. His lack of control left him shaken.

What to do?

We turned to the Scriptures. We looked at several verses regarding anger. Solomon wrote: Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end (Proverbs 29:11). And Paul added: Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:31-32).

This young man began to memorize these and other verses dealing with anger. He sought the Holy Spirit’s control in his life. Over the next several months changes occurred. While he was still a wrestler (a quite good one), his demeanor shifted from scowl to smile. Patience took root and grew. Best of all, anger faded.

I think of his relief often, especially when I read this word from the Lord: Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

The Word of God forms a fiery sledge and the rock it breaks is the human heart. The Holy Scriptures carry unmatched power. If you desire life change, search the Bible and discover the passages relating to your need. Memorize them, which allows the Holy Spirit to bring one to mind at just the right time. Pick up the hammer and see what God breaks from your life. Freedom awaits, it just takes some pounding to get there.

Jeremiah 23:29

Photo by Moritz Mentges

Sometimes you need a guy with a little moxie by your side. I like to watch football, where occasionally a couple of players get into a fight on the field. It’s always the smaller guys, defensive backs or receivers mostly. As the ruckus develops the offensive linemen—the biggest men on a field of big men—walk into the fray. No fear, no hurry. They amble in hoping someone will hit them. They get paid millions to hit and be hit. But no one takes a swing. These giants garner a lot of respect.

Jeremiah endured terrible mistreatment (imprisoned and put in stocks) as he proclaimed the Lord’s unpopular message to the people of Jerusalem. Set free he massaged his ankles and let loose with this: But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed.

God walked alongside Jeremiah as a dread warrior, a terrifying and awe-inspiring champion. Not passive, the Lord defended and protected Jeremiah. Those who mocked and beat and imprisoned the prophet eventually were dragged into captivity or lost their lives.

In my life I seek the peace the Lord provides. I often recall this most famous verse: Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Perhaps I should fear no evil in the valley of the shadow of death because I walk beside a dread warrior. Evil doesn’t just hide from the Lord’s presence, it flees. The rod and staff, tools of the shepherd, morph into the sword and shield of the fighter. God is to be feared along with revered. Which is more than bit frightening when I think on it. But in the game of life, so much more dangerous than football, I prefer a dread warrior at my side who carries more than a little moxie.

Jeremiah 20:11; Psalm 23:4

Photo by Debabrata Dash