Staying the Christian course amidst the evil

By Kari Lee Fournier

As another terrorist attack unfolds, this time in London, and our country's crime and evil continue unabated, we ask ourselves how to remain above the fray. How to maintain our Christian viewpoint and mission amidst so much wickedness, immorality, and carnage. Folks being beheaded, burned alive, and drowned in cages – nightmarish in scope, and yet more and more commonplace every day.

And there are those right here in the United States who eagerly seek to destroy its foundation. They methodically attack all of its institutions, such as our Judeo-Christian based government, in an effort to chop them down in segments.

Our founding fathers are vilified, and we are told that they were not Christian. And yet the facts are that 95 percent of the writers of the Constitution were Christians, and 93 percent of the writers of the Declaration of Independence also were Christians – Christians who said that the Constitution was based upon the principles in the Holy Bible. The tenets of our legal system also are based up the Bible.

Most of the country's colleges that came into existence over 300 years ago were Bible-based schools. Not so anymore. Even broaching the subject of Jesus Christ gets a student verbally and emotionally, and sometimes physically, assaulted.

The last beacon of Christianity, the church, also has been viciously attacked. Many times from within its own ranks, as we see many fall to the false doctrines of universalism or dominionism – not to mention those who focus on prosperity or positive thinking or making ourselves into mini versions of God. Or how about that wonderful and very convenient concept that Hell does not exist? Even though Jesus talked about it many times in the Bible, even much more so than He did on Heaven?

Yup, Satan is alive and a'kickin'. And he has infiltrated all of the various areas and aspects of life in America, all in an effort to erase God from everything. Absolutely everything. Even the family unit has been demoted, with the government held up as the new caretaker of our loved ones.

How are we to maintain our Christian belief in the face of this onslaught of evil? Evil perpetrated by the devil himself, anxious to wreak as much havoc as he can before, as Bible prophecy tells us, the end of times unravels more and more?

Here are 4 guidelines for maintaining our Christian belief, and not getting sabotaged along the way:

1. Keep your focus on God and His Word, period. So many things vie for our attention. And like the man behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz, when we try to focus on God, we are told that He is outdated and not needed. 'There's nothing to see here, folks.' But we need to focus on Him with laser-like precision, building our faith muscle every day by reading His Scriptures – as we remember that Jesus always used God's Word to slay evil. Even a little bit of reading per day, such as one sentence out of Proverbs, can get us back on track. This helps us to go out into the world daily and spread God's message and His love, thereby overcoming evil with good, as the Bible advised us. In this way, we are powerfully doing our part to stop evil dead in its tracks whenever we can.
   
   
2. Maintain a very light touch on worldly things. Of course, we need to be responsible and perform our daily and familial duties. But we are not of this world. We each have a mission to perform for God, and the Holy Spirit has bestowed within each of us a special gift or gifts to accomplish this task. Our time on earth is merely a microscopic dot upon the long continuum of time. And we can only touch eternity by being present – not yearning for things to get better in the future, or pining for how things were in the past. Let's get busy for Him!
   
   
3. Do not become immersed in worry or anxiety. Life is tough. No doubt about it. And we know from the Bible that we are not to find that strange – struggle builds character. And we all are being transformed into God's image of Holiness, so that we can coexist with Him in Heaven for eternity. When we meet with adversity, some of which can knock the wind out of us such as bad health or financial news, we need to simply remember that God has signed off on this, and that He is present, He has a plan to fix it, and He is well capable of doing so. Then we proceed step by step, never giving into whining and self pity – this problem after all is easily handled by our Great Lord of the Universe. Ultimately, the biggest problems in life, namely death and sin and disease, have been decimated by Our Lord's gracious death on the Cross. Case closed.
   
   
4. Endeavor to fulfill God's mission for your life, no matter the obstacles. When Jesus ascended to Heaven from the Mount of Olives, He advised the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit, which would equip them with the power to preach God's Word – so that they could be witnesses to the ends of the earth. And so our mission is laid out before us, we who are also disciples. And no matter the challenges in life, try hard to perform your tasks with joy. Remember that when others see our joy, they want a piece of what we've got.
   

We innately know that evil on earth will not prevail – not in the long run. And for now, we shine our little lights from our little corner of the world. Always giving thanks to Our Lord for His love, benevolence, grace, mercy, and yes, His taking the time to watch over and micromanage every aspect of our lives as we journey for Him.

And most especially we are grateful for the glorious Heaven that awaits us. By keeping our focus on God and His Word, we can actually be making our own little corner of earth like a piece of Heaven, a place where no evil dare enter.

Carry on, Soldier for Christ! Evil has been overcome by the blood of Jesus, our beloved Savior! Yes, we have gazed upon the very neck of evil up close and personal, and indeed stamped across it in indelible, thick, and golden-hued letters, we read the most comforting words of all: OVERCOME.

© Kari Lee Fournier