This past week has been a whirlwind of events in both my world and in the world as a whole. Unfortunately there has been tragedy, and unwelcoming news and let's just say that this week has reminded me of how messed up and broken this world can be. I have to admit it kinda of wore on me this week. I am a person who wants to fix everything. I want to say and do things that makes everything all right. I want to take away people's pain and sorrow. I want to think the best of everyone and that no one could be a possible tool for horrible things. I want to basically ignore the evil in this world. Now you may say that's not a bad thing...I mean, who wants to dwell on evil right? But I realized something. What are our usual chain of reactions to evil? Often we go through stages of shock, maybe denial, then anger and sorrow. The end result is often and hopefully justice, the resolve to make things better somehow or and try and prevent it from happening again. Now let me tell you what I am noticing now days. Whenever evil decides to rear its ugly head often the end result is to start laying blame and pointing fingers at one another and other people irregardless if they were even involved. Suddenly everyone is the cause of this wrong doing and the real problem is buried in the stones being thrown at one another until we forget about the real issue. And then we move on until the next act of evil comes and we start the cycle all over again.
The problem I believe here is that we don't want to dig for the real root of evil, we just want to start throwing stones at our neighbors and call it a day. Sometimes I think we are afraid of what we might really find. And yes we are hurt and confused and don't know what to think sometimes, but that doesn't give us the right to start swinging. I'll be the first to confess when something bad happens I can get angry, tunnel vision and want to spout off the first thoughts and theories that come to my mind, but that is not always the best option. I have decided I really want to fight evil in the most effective way possible. Instead of fighting it haphazardly and eventually moving on and forgetting. I want to dig deep into the heart of the problem, look beyond the surface and get real answers. Sometimes acts of evil are blatant and some have many layers of deception that are hard to uncover. The Bible says the devil "prowls" around like a lion seeking who he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8 ESV) Evil is sneaky. And we as lights in this dark world and speakers of the truth must make sure we are seeking the real truth and not settling for what everyone wants to tell us. This does not mean we beat around the bush and not call a spade a spade when it is obviously clear, but we need to expose evil in the right way. We are called to be the light that exposes the darkness (Eph. 5:8-11) We base our truth upon solid evidence and reasoning. We light up evil for what it really is and we shun it. Now does this mean we take it out on all the people who are innocent? No. Does this mean that we shut down everybody else's freedom? No. Does this mean that we place ourselves as the beacon of all of knowledge and decision making? No. We simply stand for what we know to be true and we don't back down. The devil loves it when we fight as families, friends, communities, and nations. Because while we are doing that we are scuffling dirt over the real root of the problem. He wants us to be so distracted at condemning each other that we don't shut down the real evil doers and evil doings in this world. We don't dig into the real evidence because we are so blinded by our personal preferences and biases that we can't see anything else. And we are all guilty of it in some shape or form. Ultimately only God knows the whole truth and is the final judge, but we are called to stand up against the evil in this world even if it is hard. Even if it exposes some pretty ugly things and even if it hurts a little because in the end I think it will be far worse if we turn a blind eye. Of course we shouldn't seek to find evil in everything and everyone and let that color our interactions with people that we know or meet. It is important to see and find the good in people and situations while still being wise. We must be wise and discerning in a evil world but be standing in what is true and just ourselves. It isn't about condemning everyone because we all have sinned.
Now as far as our other responses to evil one of the things that I always want to do is help people any way I can. Sometimes there are things that we just cannot fix, but I bet if we really think about it, we can come up with ways to combat evil. We can pray, we can use our talents and abilities to help those hurting, we can speak out when we know the truth, we can be a shoulder to cry on and to help carry the burden with, and we can be a ray of light in a dark situation. Being righteously angry about something is not wrong, but if we just run always run our mouths and do nothing about it to try and make a positive difference then it is utterly useless. Hurting people in the face of evil don't always want someone ranting, they want someone to stand alongside them. We have to face the real issues head on and refuse to back down until the truth is brought forth, irregardless of our egos and personal gain.
There unfortunately with always be evil in this world until Christ comes back but we still must do our part to not let evil take more and more ground. And it starts with us saying enough is enough and asking God to show us the real issues we need to face. The courage to search for the real truth and illuminate the darkness. The strength to realize our feelings will get bruised from time to time and it's OK and to but down the stones in our hands and reach out with and open hand instead. Evil hates compassion and it hates people who strive for the truth no matter what. If we start coming together and fighting the enemy within us, we will be able to stand up against anything. So let's do some truth seeking and crush evil.
"...Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and not city or house divided against itself with stand." Matthew 12:25 ESV
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