Road rules

He was a great high school athlete. A fullback in a wishbone offense, he could run over, around, and away from those who tried to bring him down. With his natural strength and abilities, he was set to make a name for himself—except for one thing—he was lazy. Glimpses of greatness appeared when he felt like it, but most of the time, his effort was lackluster.

It was the largest natural disaster in US history, causing well over $100 billion in damage. The storm flooded the entire city as well as neighboring parishes. Yet many ignored the repeated warnings that Hurricane Katrina was headed for New Orleans, and, in the end, 1,800 people lost their lives. Hundreds of other lives were saved only because rescue workers risked theirs.

How do you respond to the instruction of someone who loves you deeply and wants the best for you? Here are two scenarios. Which scenario best fits you?

Have you ever strayed off the spiritual path? Took a shortcut? Got spiritually lazy? Gave into a “favorite” sin? The old hymn written by Robert Robinson in the 1700s says it well. I am “prone to wander,” “prone to leave the God I love.” Thankfully, God lovingly confronts us.

In today’s passage, wisdom (personified) cries out in the noisy streets and reminds all who will listen that she is willing and ready to pour out her heart to all who will listen and respond to her rebuke and correction. But to those who reject her, terror will strike them “like a storm,” and calamity will come “like a whirlwind” (Proverbs 1:27).

Have you ever heard it said of a person, “You just can’t tell them anything!”? Hopefully, the statement wasn’t aimed in your direction. There are people who refuse to listen. Their mind is made up. Their way is always the right way. Don’t dare insinuate they might be wrong. This attitude is a neon sign of pride. A humble person is open to correction. Our passage today says, “He who hates reproof is stupid.”

An angry man is not a person who gets angry—all of us get angry—but he is controlled by anger. You know the type. He is always railing about something—the government, the educational system, his business partner, his neighbor, how someone treated him at a certain restaurant, and on and on and on….

Let’s face it—we all get angry. When I get cut off by another driver, I’m sorry, but I don’t feel like praying for them. When someone does something to hurt my family, I am ready to take them on. When I hear, “Your call is important to us. Stay on the line. The next available representative will be with you shortly,” I do not enjoy the music while I’m waiting. I could go on and on and on…. Our passage today provides the spiritual road rules regarding anger. Here it is.

I have never seen a child who could get so angry so fast. If Thomas felt slighted in the least, his body would stiffen, his nostrils would flare, his eyes would glaze over, and in a matter of seconds, somebody would be at the wrong end of his fist! Only a few days into the beginning of the school year, in my first teaching job, I returned to my classroom from a break to find Thomas going after another student because of words exchanged during lunch. I realized then that Thomas’ temper was going to be a challenge. When he went into his “anger mode,” it took everything I had to “talk him down.” Thomas and all those who hung around him had reserved seats in the principal’s office.