Monday, April 29th, 2019

The tragic synagogue shooting in California and the church bombing in Sri Lanka in the last week are more reminders that there is a real, evil force working in the hearts of men and women around the world. What are we to do about such evil? The Bible instructs us to leave vengeance to the Lord and hold back our spirit of anger, as only fools give full vent to their spirit (see Romans 12:19 and Proverbs 29:11). But how then are we supposed to digest and cope with the random acts of evil across the world? One of the greatest aspects of being a follower of Christ is peace — peace within ourselves, peace with our life and work, and peace with our relationships. The Bible tells us that “there is no peace for the wicked.” Those who harbor evil and hate in their hearts live each day without the peace that we enjoy. Instead of using our voices to hurl hate and judgement upon those who live with that hate, we should be lifting our voices in prayer for them to let Jesus into their hearts. There is no political figure or government policy that can banish hate from a heart; only Jesus can do that. Today and everyday, lift up all those who live with evil and hate in their hearts to the Lord so that they may know Jesus and change because of it.

“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.” — Isaiah 48:22 ESV