The evil in this world – and the influence of evil people – can seem overwhelming at times. Even for those who say they don’t believe in evil.
This morning, I read in Psalm 37:1-2, “Do not fret because of evildoers, do not be envious of wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb.”
In other words, we really do get things way out of perspective.
Click on this picture, and just marvel for a moment.
Evil people and their schemes are here for a moment – a blink of an eye – and then gone. They oppose God, but with all the effectiveness of a gnat taking on a bulldozer. A bulldozer the size of Texas.
But even that analogy is inadequate. When we look at the Andromeda galaxy, we see thousands upon endless thousands of stars, sprinkled in orderly array – no, stunningly beautiful array – across breathtaking light years of space. And this is just one of countless millions of galaxies.
Our amazingly powerful sun is only one of billions of stars scattered across creation; our intricate planet a glorious but tiny speck. And our lifespans? A mere breath.
Yes, it is easy to fret because of evildoers. But every rebel against God will wither away. Whom do we oppose? A mythical figure from the pages of a regressive book? No – we try to stand against the God who designed every astonishing thing that surrounds us, who is perfectly capable of communicating with his feeble creatures, and who is fully intent on dispensing justice in His universe. He is present and all-knowing. What? – He can make a galaxy and a planet and a human and a flower and a cell and an atom and somehow can’t figure out how to reach down to earth and be involved in our everyday lives?
Of course, the unbeliever must take a huge leap of faith and just believe that all of it “happened,” and with that dogma in place must fret continually – in a world which began in randomness and ends in meaninglessness, there can be no ultimate justice, no hope beyond this fading life, no rest. Though isn’t it curious that even the God-denier has moral impulses and yearns for justice? Perhaps just as astonishingly wonderful as gazing at the galaxies, is gazing within our our souls to find the fingerprints of a moral and personal God. The God so vigorously denied is the One who made us in His image.
Let’s regain perspective. Read verses 7-11 of the same psalm. Evil is real. God, however, is surpassingly great. Rest in the Lord.
Photo: GALEX, JPL/CalTech, NASA via Astronomy Picture of Day
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