“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:12-13)
Evil happens too much in our world and, unfortunately, it will happen more too. This, we are promised in God’s word. These are all signs of a planet in rebellion to the will and love of God. For the time, God permits much because we must learn to understand the true nature of evil, and because we must wait for God’s time to finish His efforts in the salvation work (See 2 Peter 3:9-10). Evil is not innocent. It is a destructive plague. For now it is put up with, but also hated by God, as He has clearly expressed, such as before the flood in Noah’s day (See Genesis 6:5-8). God will destroy all evil and those who do evil, before much longer.
Even the innocent suffer from it. Even the righteous suffer, though God does spare so many of us for the time, that we may serve Him and grow in Him. As we know, even righteous Job suffered because of the devil and his evil. But, God still loved Job greatly. Job’s life was spared through it all. Though he had painful scars, but God also gave him joys. (See Job 2:6-10; 42:10,12) Most importantly, Job and all the righteous will be saved for eternity in God’s sinless and perfectly loving universe. All evil doers and trouble causers will be destroyed forever by God (Revelation 20:9-10). Then true peace will reign for eternity. The way God really wants for it to be. The way He designed it from the beginning (See Revelation 21:1-5).
Even God suffers with us for now. Even Jesus, the perfect innocent and righteous one suffered and bleed and died on the cross because of sin and evil, and for our sins, in our place (John 3:16; Isaiah 53). The heart of God knows our sufferings first hand. He suffers with us. He loves us and is sorry for our sorrow. We are invited to “cast our cares upon Him for He cares for us” (1 Peter 5:7).
But He will do a special work in each of our hearts to cleanse and purify us from our sins, during these trying times. Somehow, even from the evil, God can isolate and bring out something good, causing the circumstance to work for our own good in the end (See Romans 8:28).
In Jesus we are forgiven for our sins and faults. In Jesus we can have life and peace. In Him alone will we truly find rest, love, joy, and peace. We will find it to the fullest in Jesus. He calls all who are “weary and heavy laden” to come to Him, and “find rest” for their souls (Matthew 11:28-29). Though we face storms in this life, let us have Jesus in our boat, keeping us all the way. And may we trust His perfect will to be done. Our life is His. Jesus has paid for us the debt we owed.
And yes, may all victims of sin, who have suffered and died, rest in peace. Hopefully to have found eternal joy in Jesus Christ, that they “might rest from their labors” until Jesus comes to give out all the rewards (Revelation 14:13).
May God bless and keep you in all things always! Remember, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). So, when things go awry, or become difficult in this world, simply look and pray to Him in faith, and He will be your Helper! Always remember that God has far better plans for us, than what this old sin-sick world could ever dream of offering us! God will help us presently in this world. And, when it is His will to permit suffering for a time (though He is not the cause), or even death, we must trust that His will, will ultimately bring the best end result for us. What God allows, in the end, will always be for the greatest good and with our eternal interests in mind!
So again, may God bless and keep you. Surrender all to Him and be safe in His arms for now and eternity.
