Do NOt Let Evil Triumph in Your Life
Paraphrasing what Edmund Burke once said, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”
The numbers that follow may not be as accurate as you may think. Statistics vary depending on which resource you use. The point, or emphasis, I am making is that millions of lives have ended prematurely because of evil in our world.
Roughly, thirty eight million people lost their lives because of evil people in World War I.
Between 50 and 80 million people died during World War II.
From the early 1930s until the mid-1940s, six million people lost their lives because of the evil of one man and his followers.
Even today, millions of people, world-wide, die due to human trafficking and modern day slavery.
Slavery has been practiced since biblical days. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt and lived in harsh conditions and many were killed. In America, people have lived harsh lives and died because of slavery.
Could any of these millions of people have lived if “good” people had chosen to do something instead of nothing?
Today in church, our pastor asked us to rate our faith from one to 10, with 10 being someone who had unwavering faith. I know what I guessed as my faith-number and I honestly considered it too low. I kept asking myself throughout the day how I could make that number higher. How could I have more faith and believe more in God? I desire to have a stronger faith and belief in God. Yet, despite my faith in God and belief in God, I am troubled when I look around our world and see what is happening.
You watch a loved one die after an excruciating battle with an illness. You see someone work hard all of their life, never quite making enough to get ahead, never enjoying the simple things that many take for granted.
You see masses of people killed because of a deranged person or two. You see people sucking up to the rich and powerful, and disdaining the poor and helpless. You see people becoming rich over the sweat and backs of others, paying them pennies on the dollar for their labor. Yes, we even see some preachers and some churches practicing classism around us.
To which I ask, “Why Lord? I don’t understand why You don’t prematurely intervene and humble some of these folks to help people gain faith in the goodness of people and of this life again or even faith in this life for the first time.”
I will continue to believe and have faith in my Lord, even though I don’t understand why tragedies and injustices are allowed to continue around me and in the world. I don’t believe that I was created from nothing. God created me. I don’t believe this is all there is to existence. I believe in the hereafter.
If this were all there was to existence, how sad this life really would be. I believe in a Savior who has gone and prepared a place for me for something greater and better than where I am now. I hope you will have this same belief, despite what happens around us day after day.
Also, if you can, do one thing today to make the life of someone else better. Better yet, do one thing every day to make life better for someone else.