What If Evil Prevails?
As I write this, we are in the midst of a battle in the city of Wadsworth, the city of which I am a resident, over whether a drag queen story time will be permitted to be held in a public park. I have written to our city leaders and spoken the truth to them. Four from the city council have responded stating unequivocally that they oppose this event. It remains to be seen whether the event will be issued a permit by the city or not (it is not under the city council's direct authority), but we should know in a few days. While waiting, though, it is a good time to prepare ourselves for what may be coming, the potential approval of this event. Even if not approved this time, there will be another event, another city, another battle, and we will not win all of the battles. So, how do we react when we lose the battle and it seems evil has prevailed?
We must first remember what we do not do, which is to become anxious, fearful, violent, or anything of that sort. Remember, dear Christian, the fruit of the Spirit which is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22,23, Legacy Standard Bible). Christians live by the Spirit, walk in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25), and therefore they produce the fruit of the Spirit.
The question you might be asking, though, is how can we have such fruit when we know children are going to be subjected to wickedness and evil by adults in these events? There are only two things you must remember in order to answer that question. First, our God is sovereign. “But our God is in the heavens, He does whatever He pleases” (Psalm 115:3). “Whatever Yahweh pleases, He does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the deeps” (Psalm 135:6). God is all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-powerful. Therefore, we can only conclude that God sees what is happening, God knows what is happening, and God is choosing in His wisdom to not utilize His power to stop what is happening.
The second thing we need to remember is that our God only does good. “Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good, for His lovingkindness endures forever” (Psalm 107:1). “You are good and do good; teach me Your statutes” (Psalm 119:68). Therefore, if the Lord chooses to not stop this event, and everything He does is good, then we must believe that with all of our hearts. We must trust Him that He knows better than we do.
“Whatever Yahweh pleases, He does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the deeps” (Psalm 135:6)
Now, the next question may be, but how can a drag queen event be good in any way, shape or form? Let me ask a couple of other questions to help gain perspective. How can it be good, in any way, shape or form, for a bunch of brothers to sell their younger brother to slave traders? How can it be good, in any way, shape or form, to be sent to prison for a false accusation? Yet the man to whom this happened in Genesis, Joseph, said this, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to do what has happened on this day, to keep many people alive” (Genesis 50:20). When the story was being completed, God was gracious to show Joseph and his brothers what He was doing through this mess of evil. Of course, the story continues where through the line of Judah, Jesus Christ is born to save His people from their sins.
Now, note a couple of things, this is not teaching that the ends justify the means. The act of these brothers was still evil, and there will be an accounting for that evil before God one day. Yet, God still meant it, which means He intended it, He just did not intend it for evil but for good. God saw the greater perspective, God saw the bigger picture, God saw what He was going to do with it all, and He saw that it was good.
What I am calling every Christian to do is to trust God more, increase your faith in the God you profess to believe in. He is worthy of your complete trust. This same teaching continues in Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” The words “all things” include good things and evil things. Fun things and sad things. Things we love and things we hate. They are all put together for good. A god that is worthy of trust only when things go as we think they should is not a god worthy of worship, but that is not the God the true Biblical Christian worships. We worship God Almighty who is worthy of worship and praise in all that He does, whether it meets with our approval or not. Remember the prayer Jesus taught His disciples, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10), or the prayer Jesus Himself prayed in the garden, “Yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
“Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10)
In light of this, what is my plan going forward? I can think of nothing better than spending time beseeching that same sovereign God, so that morning, whether the event occurs or not, I am planning to go to the park to pray. I will pray for our city, for our children, for the greatest need that our community has, which is that they might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing they might have life in His name (John 20:31). This is the need of the hour, even more than stopping the drag queen story hour, that people would believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps you yourself have yet to come to know that Jesus is the Christ, perhaps you do not yet have life in His name, perhaps you cannot find peace in all of this chaos our world is going through. I encourage you that I would like nothing better than to talk with you about Jesus, and share with you the greatest need you have, to find peace with God.
