2 Peter 2:7-9, "If he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials,and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment."
Have you ever almost thrown up on a palm (or pine) tree outside of an abortion clinic when the abortionist pulled into the full parking lot and walked in carrying a black bag? Or driven by a "Gentleman's Club" (so backward) or a "Cafe Risque" billboard and teared up and cried out a prayer to God to save us from ourselves? If you have, that's evidence of the Holy Spirit in you. You are a righteous person, made righteous by Christ alone, and your soul is tormented by lawless deeds. You know that the things around you aren't God's desired will.
"We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."
There's a new fairy-tale themed tv show called "Once Upon a Time" that's very popular right now. A little boy named Henry, who is one of the main characters, made a statement in a recent episode that grieved me deeply: "Good loses. Good always loses because good has to play fair. Evil doesn't."
Could this be true about abortion and human trafficking? When I sidewalk counsel in front of abortion clinics, I play fair. I don't trespass, I don't harass, I don't shoot the abortionist or the nurses. Conversely, the staff and clients shout at those silently praying, put dog poop on the grass, and sometimes turn on the sprinklers. Pimps aren't afraid to shoot anyone who interferes with their business, and they mock those who try because they can always find more girls to sell.
Ah, but God says something that directly denies Henry's lament:
"At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage."
Faith that God will do what He promised- and He has promised to destroy evil forever and completely- enables us to stare death, abuse, ugly billboards, brick buildings where babies are ripped to pieces, and every other kind of evil around us in the face and say,
That's a lie. Here is truth. I didn't make it up. God said it, and He never lies: "For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ." (Romans 15:17)
Let your soul be tormented and weary. Then fix your eyes on Jesus, remember it's not forever, and keep on looking Death in the face and telling it about Real Life.
