When Evil Haunts us in our Dreams

"Woe to those who are crafting iniquity, planning evil well into the night! When morning's light comes, they carry out their plans because they have the power to do so." Micah 2:1

This verse seems to capture the idea well, does it not? We see the horrid devastation in Paris. The blood drains from my face and I feel my heart jump: what those mothers, fathers, sisters, husbands, wives, children must be experiencing today...such loss...such senseless loss. Hundreds of lives scattered and snuffed out, and for what?

ISIS, in an online statement, described Paris as "the carrier of the banner of the Cross in Europe" and described the attackers as "eight brothers wrapped in explosive belts and armed with machine rifles."(France's Hollande Responds)


And how can we not say, "evil!"? The world wants us all to grow in tolerance--can I tell you how much I have grown to abhor that word? The connotation has morphed from its original meaning: we are not talking about "enduring" despite our own opposition to something. We are now obligated to embrace and say (or feel) nothing in contrast to another (another who threatens our lives merely because we exist). 

All is prohibited. But, when all is prohibited, nothing is truly safe or free. We only become good when we stand against that which is evil. We cease to be loving when we don't stand for truth, defending those who are vulnerable. People take on an erroneous belief that says love accepts everything another person does, when in reality, the opposite is true. We set boundaries on those we love, disciplining them when they push outside those perimeters. 

The world would be wise to pay attention and recognize the appropriate response when these terrorists attack our neighbors. It's time to stand up to the bully on the playground and say, "enough." It's time to stop tolerating what is intolerable. 

Many fellow believers say "love, just respond with love." And we do, but remember that the loving thing isn't always, or only, the merciful thing. We don't love when we ignore. When Jesus saw the evil that was taking place in his temple, he drove it out with a whip.

Today, I would encourage families to walk in gratitude, give your kids an extra hug, appreciate the environment we are surrounded by, and seriously ask the Lord, what would you have me do to combat evil?

Malachi 4:1

"For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze," says the LORD of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch."

Romans 2:5

But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.