Michael C. Carson: The Power of Good Will Always Triumph Over the Power of Evil | Across Indiana

My prayers go out to all who are experiencing the effects of evil happening in their lives!

“Evil is profoundly immoral and wicked!

A member of my cycling class, Beverly Blackburn Connor, shares that our world is in a state where all kinds of evil is happening. She said to me, “Mike, ‘If my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their evil ways; then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land.’” (2 Chronicles 7:14.)

I totally agree with that, but I also ask the question: how does one deal with the effects of evil?

Now, if you believe that evil is the result of Satan’s influence in the world, we are reminded to be “sober, be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he will devour. (1 Peter 5:8.)

Let’s agree that evil can manifest through situations causing trauma, tragedy, personal crisis, havoc and a whole list of things and events that happen in life inviting “drama” to occur in our life.

Yet let us never elevate the power of evil above the power of good. French philosopher Jean Paul Gustave Ricœur, author of “The Fallible Man” and “The Symbolism of Evil,” shares, “As radical as evil is, it cannot be as primordial as good.”

People of faith might say to someone who is suffering the effects of evil, “Well, just have faith. But on the first audition, it may not always be so easy to tackle bad deeds effectively. Howard Regional Health Spiritual Services Staff Chaplain Paul Newman-Jacobs shares, “When you just say you have faith, it doesn’t always feel compassionate or sensitive. You have to unpack it.

To effectively address the grief that an evil action might cause, one might need to analyze the nature of what happened by examining the tragic situation in detail.

When faced with the hurt and experiences that evil actions might bring, it is natural and, in fact, healing to grieve.

Ricœur concludes that “the work of mourning is so important not to allow the inhuman nature of suffering to result in a complete ‘loss of self’ (what Freud called ‘melancholy’)”.

Another Howard Regional Health chaplain, Dan Hopkins, shares, “While it is never easy to let go of what is happening, we must never let go of the comforting hand of God. The comforting hand of God is always where the pain is.

Job, addressing all the evil he had suffered, declared to Satan: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he shall stand in the earth… All the while my breath is within me , and the spirit of God is in me. my nostrils; My lips will not speak malice, nor my tongue outright deceit. God forbid that I justify you: until my death, I will not take away my integrity. (Job 19:25; 27:3-5.)

Good was first in the world, and it will always prevail over evil! “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8.)

I say it like that!

Peace with justice; be blessed really, really well; attend worship; and families matter!