Stop! Look! Listen!

My column for the May/June 2011 edition of The Citadelian

I’ve got bad news for you: Evil is all around us.  I’m sorry to have to share this with you.  If I’m the first to tell you this, I’m even more sorry.  I wish it weren’t this way.  Adam and Eve screwed it up for the rest of us.  However, if I were in their place I can’t guarantee that my choice would have been different – none of us can.  At any rate, evil is a very present force in our world.  So, how do we deal with it?

I have grown to love the book of Proverbs.  Have you read it?  I encourage you to do so – not just the good parts, but the whole thing.  Proverbs is the common sense guide to living out Godliness in the everyday world.  It is not an instruction guide on how to behave in church; on the contrary, it is a model for living out “church” in the business world, school, on the bus, at the kid’s soccer game, wherever!

Proverbs 4:14 and 15 (NIV) gives us a great model for dealing with the evil that exists in our world.  It says, “Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers.  Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way.”  I like to read it like this, “Caleb!  Wake up!  Stop!  Look!  Listen!  Turn around!”  Exclamation points really help me to walk in holiness.

My kids just returned to school after a ten day “Easter” hiatus.  I have to admit that it was nice to live in a slower paced schedule without the daily rush of school preparation and transportation.  I also have to admit that the first day back to school was daunting for all of us.  They didn’t want to get up.  I didn’t want to get up.  We had gotten comfortable with our slower pace and it was hard to shake off the slumber and focus on the task at hand.

Often, we get spiritually comfortable.  Here’s more bad news:  The enemy loves when we’re spiritually comfortable.  It is a prime opportunity for attack.  We have to wake up.  We have to stop in our tracks, look into God’s Word, and listen for God’s guidance and instruction.

Here’s the good news: God wants to help us remain on the path of righteousness and avoid the path of the wicked.  That’s right; it is actually possible to avoid evil.  We simply need to stop, look, listen, and put our trust in God, knowing that he will make our paths straight.