"But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger." Romans 2:8
Evil. This is one of those words that seems to hiss when you say it. It is like there has been a combination of multiple hideous words to form this epic term. "Vile" and "Ill" come to mind as root words for "EVIL". And God doesn't look at the activity that this word represents lightly.
It seems that the verse above doesn't have much of a place in our vocabulary anymore. And it sure doesn't sound like it belongs in the Bible does it? "For those that follow evil, there will be wrath and anger" sounds like a God Who is madder than a disturbed hornet. Well, is it possible that He is? Can we handle that as truth or need we whitewash it for our weak constitutions? Tough question.
I think we need to let the weight of the Scripture fall on us, and let God's Word rain hail on us from time to time. The world is messed up.....sin is real and was what Jesus became for us to satisfy the wrath of God........Satan is an authentic, personal reality who is executing a plan to disrupt the beauty of gospel of the Kingdom..........Satan will lose......so will sin......but it will be painful in the interim until Jesus sets everything right. These realities are part of the reality of the Scripture and the world we live in. And God will deal with evil.........finally and completely.. someday.
We have just witnessed evil in our country perpetrated in two cities in Colorado. A young man kills missionaries in training at a Christian facililty in Arvada, and then kills people by walking into a church in Colorado Springs and shooting them. Two sisters - teenagers - just gunned down at church. No reason......just random killing......random evil.
It makes you scratch your head and ask where God is in all of this. He's not absent, but it sure feels like it sometimes when these things occur. Why doesn't God just end it? Is He incapable? Does He care? Why do bad things happen to good people - no, why do bad things happen to Godly people?
There aren't any easy answers - no quick formulaic responses. But there are some answers, some understanding in the pages of Scripture. I took a pass at this subject in the summer of this year, and if you have any questions related to this subject then maybe viewing or listening to it might help in some way - http://dev.jerrygillis.com/messages/?id=211&show=vid.
God is going to set everything right. We can count it.
Let's just pray that God continues to exhibit His grace and reflect His glory in the face of evil while we await the final, glorious redemption of all things. And take a minute to pray for all of the families affected by the deaths in Colorado......including the family of the shooter.
