…Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father Galatians 1:4
As I sit on my deck on a beautiful, if very warm, summer day, I recognize how blessed I am. I am writing from a place of comfort and security. Some of my readers cannot take such pleasure. They may be in a war-torn place like Ukraine where the evil designs of Vladimir Putin’s war threaten people daily. The ruthlessness, narcissism, and callousness of evil
Perhaps some readers live in a country where freedom of religion is unknown, and they suffer for the faith that they hold dear. While I have no readers, to my knowledge, in North Korea, those people suffer at the hands of a leader who values military might and saber rattling higher than the goal of feeding his people. The grandiosity, self-destructiveness, and paranoia of evil.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban oppresses women in horrible ways. Those same leaders, who disdain and mistreat women, often suspend their rigid misogynist rules to give some women rights when they need female surgeons to perform life-saving operations. The irony and foolishness of evil.
People around the world suffer because of the evil in the world. Sometimes it does us well to recognize that fact, and to remind ourselves that evil is alive, and it has a face. Unfortunately, it has many faces.
Remember to pray for deliverance from evil for brothers and sisters who do not enjoy the freedoms we may take for granted.
Prayer: Lord, deliver us from the evil that surrounds us, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 