Overcome evil with good

Saturday mornings are my favorite. It's usually just me and my Little, snuggling on the couch, indulging his first thing in the morning request for Sesame Street. Today, though, the cuddles were tighter, my hand was tense on my pregnant belly, and my sorrow filled sobs were only barely drowned out by Elmo, as I read the full accounts of the attacks in Paris last night. As I then read about further attacks in Baghdad yesterday and Beirut the day before, my heart just felt irreparably broken. Laments came in like a flood while I asked, what world will I be raising my sons in? What can I do besides weep for the dead and for what this holds in the future? What does the world do now?

I don't think anything brings out rage like feeling helpless about our child's safety. There's a reason mom's will liken themselves to "mama bears," as a mother bear who sees her cubs in trouble will kill without hesitation or mercy. My first reaction tends to be one involving nuclear winter. “Time to turn Syria into a parking lot, I guess,” I said as my husband responded with a pause and then, “I have no rebuttal for that plan. I don’t know what it would take for this to stop.” 

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good,” the still, small Voice whispered. “Okay,” I thought, “What does that mean?” I took to social media, and friends shared the verses that I was referencing, saying to forgive, not retaliate but to the best of our ability be at peace with all men, and serve our enemies, which by doing so, would heap burning coals on their head. (Proverbs 25:21/Romans 12:9-21) I had been asking for hands on, practical ways I could implement such tenets. Besides attempting to live by these verses, and giving value to the fact I probably won’t have the opportunity to retaliate against or serve these enemies, how was I supposed to overcome evil with good?

I called a friend who is good at processing this sort of thing. He said the thing to remember is that Christ died for terrorists, and that God yearns for them to be delivered. That they are lost, which is why we remember that our war is not with flesh and blood, but with powers and principalities. I went back to the question my husband asked, “what would sink in? what would it take to get this to stop?” I thought of myself before I met Christ, and how I always felt like I identified with Paul, who called himself “the chief of sinners.” It was the inescapable hope of Christ that sunk in, and eventually began to change my life, and the ubiquitous grace that got into Saul and turned him from one who terrorized Christians to one of the greatest reasons the gospel was spread to the world. The gospel sinks in.

So what is the practical, hands on way I can overcome evil with good? To raise my boys in such a way that they understand the only thing that delivers from this mindset, that overcomes such evil is the far reaching nature of the gospel. It means to live myself and teach my boys that overcoming evil with good is not being filled with fear and prepared for the worst, but to pray, full of hope, that He would touch these people, believing that He wants no man to perish, but that they would be saved. It is to be willing to serve in the name of Jesus, and bring the gospel to those all rational thought would tell us keep at an arm’s length, and teach them to do likewise. To present a Savior who dies for sin, and a God who lifts the downtrodden, gives grace to the humble, and loves the undeserving, which is a vastly different picture of god than what  terrorists believe they’re serving. To be willing to go with the open hands of Jesus and present the one thing that produces change, whether by offering hope and grace or food and water, recognizing that whether He is accepted or wanted, they need Him as much as we do. It’s laying down my first reaction of I must protect my family by any means necessary, and being willing to surrender my life for the sake of the gospel, for without, none of us have any hope of a better tomorrow.

Let us cry out together that we would become a community that overcomes evil with good. Abba, show us the way to be the hands and feet of Jesus,and present Your heart to this world who is reeling from pain. Show us how we can comfort those who mourn, lift up those who have been struck down, and present the gospel to those who need to be set free from the demonic mindset that is terrorizing the world. Give us the endurance to not tire in doing good, but to believe it is Your will that all would come to the saving knowledge of Christ. Thank you for being enough, even in the midst of such evil. Your goodness overcomes. In Jesus name, amen.

Weary and Heavy Laden

It was only 7:30pm, a full hour and a half before his bedtime, but that didn't stop him from rubbing his eyes. He was SO tired that it took all he had to look up at me, finding my lap empty and my arms open. "You ok, baby?" I asked, while he looked down at the toys at his hands, quickly abandoning them. In a desperate search for rest, he crawled up me, laid his head adjacent to my heart. and within seconds,was asleep. Being the overactive toddler he's become in recent months, this never happens, and I thought about how tired he must have been while I recounted the day's activities. As I felt him fully settle into my chest, I felt my own exhaustion well up. Being 5 months pregnant, working as much as I can, taking orders for the coming holidays, being present and involved in community, and just trying to keep up with dishes and laundry. I exhaled sharply while my arms wrapped around him. Oh little one, I'm glad you trust me with your rest. I wish I had a lap to crawl into too.

"You do." I heard the Father say. I was immediately reminded of Jesus saying, "Come to Me, you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) I think many of us have a concept of weariness or what it means to be laden that requires we wait until we can no longer stand on our own before we come to Jesus. We go to Jesus as though He's a triage nurse, with our blisters and open sores, broken hearts and bones, battered, abused and Sabbath denied souls, and then finally surrender to rest, only after we're literally forced on our backs.

As a mom, it's especially tough, because there are many demands and what feels like no days off. The expectation is that if I take even a moment off, the whole world will end. I can't afford to rest. This tape that plays over and over in my head makes parenthood a heavy and difficult yoke. Something that drags me around and if I stop trying to keep up, my work in the morning will just be double what it is today. I've seen how dishes and dust can quickly accumulate and my little one's needs don't lessen just because I'm too tired to meet them.

These concepts of weary and burdened don't serve us but only lead to burnout. Jesus says His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. (vs 29)  He's offering to partner with in terms of accomplishment, and is not a taskmaster demanding we get it all done ourselves. Maybe this is what Jesus meant when He said we must become like little children, who look for empty laps and open arms when they feel tiredness setting in, and who call out for assistance when things get hard instead of trying to tough it out. Who are moved by what brings us together and brings them joy, not a list of things to accomplish.

This world is a taxing place to live, whether you're a Wall Street lawyer or a stay at home mom, and the options for rest can feel so limited, and sometimes, non-existent. His invitation calls to all of us: "Come, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." A rest that's as good as a Father's tender lap and warm hug while we settle our exhausted souls into Him, knowing only there, we will be restored.

Abba, thank you for the faith my little one has in my ability to provide for him, not just his body, but also his soul. I ask that You would increase my faith to believe the same of You, that You desire to partner with me in the tasks the day sets before me, and that when my body and soul are weary, that You want to scoop me up and give me rest. I lay down the expectations I have for myself and what I should be able to do without Your help, and ask Your forgiveness for trying so hard to do it all. Thank you for Your merciful ways of bringing my shortcomings to light, and for covering me with the arms of grace and truth. I receive Your heart for me today. In Jesus name.