When evil seems to be winning

There are periods in which it appears that evil is prevailing. This has been true in the past, is true now, and will be true again in the future.

These are periods of time in which we go day to day waiting for what’s next. We almost expect it to happen. And when it does come, it is not all that much of a surprise. It’s more about us noticing.

When these periods of prevailing evil come, we may want to crawl away, hide, or just curl up and go to bed. We may want to just call it quits, tell God that we are exhausted, or that we are up against evil systems that are relentless and unchanging — so what’s the point?

Those are the reactions that evil wants good people, followers of God, to have. Evil is counting on it in fact.

It is in those times of prevalent evil that followers of God are tested. Not tested in the way that God is putting people to the test to see if they will remain faithful. Rather, tested in a different way. Tested in the sense of revealing one’s true character.

God never promises that following God will be easy or pleasant. God doesn’t promise that following God’s ways will yield material reward and the pleasures of life. Jesus does command his followers to pick up their cross, die daily, and follow him. That’s testing someone to see what they are really made of. Are you all in…