16Never again will they hunger,
and never will they thirst;
nor will the sun beat down upon them,
nor any scorching heat.a
17For the Lamb in the center of the throne
will be their shepherd.b
He will lead them to springs of living water,c
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. (Revelation 7:15-17)
Thoughts: Why doesn't God do something about evil? We all know there is wrong and a lot of badness in the world. But rarely does our world use the word "evil" anymore- because we don't want to judge between right and wrong or heaven and hell. Yet, deep down we know there is evil- in murders, torture, things like the holocaust, or rape. The news can actually magnify evil so that a little bit of evil can be well known by all. The other part is that our technology- instead of slowing evil often enhances it. So bombs are more powerful (even nuclear); so pornography is spread more rapidly with cell phones and the internet.
Yet we must be careful to define what evil is. Evil is not a positive force, but a negative one. It is the absence of good just as darkness is the absence of light. In that sense, evil is parasitic upon the good (no one would know what evil was if there was no good- and we only recognize evil when good is absent).
But why doesn't God do something? He has made us with the ability to say no to Him. We are not robots or simply controlled by fate. God gives us time to repent- and He desires that we all repent and come to the truth (2 Peter 3:9). So God is much more patient and gracious toward our evil than we are.
God has done something in that He came to experience evil- and He did on the cross in the person of His Son-Jesus. God knows what it is like to have evil done to the innocent.
Yet, one day God will stop evil. Evil is limited by Jesus even now. But at the end of history, He will wipe every tear and there will be no more mourning or death or pain or hunger or thirst. God will one day end all evil, hurt, and harm. That day is coming. In the meantime- He showed us and taught us how to live in the face of evil in the person of Jesus who turned the other cheek.
Yet we must be careful to define what evil is. Evil is not a positive force, but a negative one. It is the absence of good just as darkness is the absence of light. In that sense, evil is parasitic upon the good (no one would know what evil was if there was no good- and we only recognize evil when good is absent).
But why doesn't God do something? He has made us with the ability to say no to Him. We are not robots or simply controlled by fate. God gives us time to repent- and He desires that we all repent and come to the truth (2 Peter 3:9). So God is much more patient and gracious toward our evil than we are.
God has done something in that He came to experience evil- and He did on the cross in the person of His Son-Jesus. God knows what it is like to have evil done to the innocent.
Yet, one day God will stop evil. Evil is limited by Jesus even now. But at the end of history, He will wipe every tear and there will be no more mourning or death or pain or hunger or thirst. God will one day end all evil, hurt, and harm. That day is coming. In the meantime- He showed us and taught us how to live in the face of evil in the person of Jesus who turned the other cheek.
Prayer: Lord, help me to be on your side and not on evil's side. Let me trust in you and wait patiently until evil is demolished.
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