Kept from evil?
This morning in my meeting with God, I read the following verse from Psalm 121, "He will keep you from all evil. He will keep your life." Pausing on that verse, I let it seep into my psyche a bit and let it reverberate in my heart for a few moments. "He will keep you from all evil..." What does it mean? Does it mean that evil will not touch me? Does it mean that bad things won't happen to God's people? I'm not that nieve to think that bad things don't happen to Christians and good people. It's just too simple and unrealistic to think that being "kept" from evil means I have a protective force field around me, around us as we walk through life. Is evil a present reality in this world? Yes. Does it affect my life? Yes. So, what does it mean that God will keep us from all evil?
Then I read from Acts 13. Acts is the historical account of the spread of the Jesus movement throughout the world and the establishment of this new community of Jesus people. Acts 13:49-51, "The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. But...they stirred up persecution agains Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." Paul and Barnabas experienced evil in the persecutions they experienced. They weren't kept from bad things happening to them. I think the difference is how they responded to the evil. They "shook the dust off their feet" and they were "filled with joy." Maybe being "kept from all evil" isn't so much kept from experiencing it, but rather it is that evil will not overtake God's people. God will give us the right attitude in spite of the deteriorating circumstances surrounding us. What a way to respond to persecution, to simply get away and moved on. Paul and Barnabas' response to me is a courageous, controlled, and graceful response to the evil the beset them. May I, may we, respond to the evil around us with the Holy Spirit equipping and strengthening us to face it for what it is...and move through and passed it with the assurance of God's love and ultimate protection for us.
Thanks for reading.
Then I read from Acts 13. Acts is the historical account of the spread of the Jesus movement throughout the world and the establishment of this new community of Jesus people. Acts 13:49-51, "The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. But...they stirred up persecution agains Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." Paul and Barnabas experienced evil in the persecutions they experienced. They weren't kept from bad things happening to them. I think the difference is how they responded to the evil. They "shook the dust off their feet" and they were "filled with joy." Maybe being "kept from all evil" isn't so much kept from experiencing it, but rather it is that evil will not overtake God's people. God will give us the right attitude in spite of the deteriorating circumstances surrounding us. What a way to respond to persecution, to simply get away and moved on. Paul and Barnabas' response to me is a courageous, controlled, and graceful response to the evil the beset them. May I, may we, respond to the evil around us with the Holy Spirit equipping and strengthening us to face it for what it is...and move through and passed it with the assurance of God's love and ultimate protection for us.
Thanks for reading.
posted by Mike Weaver at 10:30 AM
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