The Ol' Club

Years ago I spent a few weeks refurbishing a pool table for my garage.  Over the course of time, one of my two-piece pool cues broke.  As I walked to the rubbish bin, I held the lower portion in my hand.  Man, this would be a good club, I thought to myself.  Convinced of the bell-ringing power of my new club, I put it near my bed in the case of an unexpected intruder.  For years the thing collected dust.

Then one day I heard a story (fact or fable I do not know) about a woman who woke up and caught an intruder rifling through her home.  Instead of demanding he leave or threatening to call the police, the woman invited the man to sit down and offered him some food.  As she prepared the meal, she spoke to him gently and told him of God's love for him despite his sins.  This woman's faith in God's protection was her security, even when there was a thief in her home.  The story made an impact on me.  It reminded me God is the one who protects my family, home, property, and myself.  Should I place any amount of trust in a club, my ability to wield it, or a gun when God watches over me?  I did that day what I should have done years before:  the club went straight to the bin.  It was replaced - not with a weapon I hold in my hands - but with the knowledge my life and future is in my heavenly Father's hands, and He can protect far better than I can myself!

When I read of Christians amassing stockpiles of weapons or ammunition because of the state of the world or new governmental restrictions, I wonder if they remember that it is God who fights our battles.  How many times did God deliver and save His people in unconventional means because they trusted in Him!  I think of when individuals or entire armies were struck blind, how the Jews were delivered from slavery in Egypt without an insurrection, or when the walls of Jericho fell flat.  Gideon and his three hundred men bested an innumerable encampment of Midianites armed with torches, pitchers, trumpets, and a catch-phrase.  In the days of Israel when there were only two swords, God turned the swords of the Philistines upon themselves!  David defeated the heavily armed and armoured champion of Gath with a sling and a single stone.  God saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego from a fiery furnace, and protected Daniel in a den of lions.  Isaiah 37:36 tells when the Angel of the Lord went into the camp of the Assyrians overnight and killed 185,000 warriors!  Our God causes the chains to fall off of hands and makes prison gates to swing open of their own accord, with even the most vigilant guards clueless.

God defends and protects His people if they will trust Him to do so.  How feeble does that club under the bed seem in light of the power of God!  There is a time for war and peace; there is a time as the Jews did in the book of Esther to make a stand and defend our lives.  But let us be careful we do not forget that it is God who fights our battles.  Let us put no trust in armaments or an arm of flesh, for God is faithful to deliver and save all who trust in Him.