The shocking and horrific events in Paris on Friday night and the loss of life caused by terrorists leave us floundering. Every new atrocity we witness strips us of any sense of safety we have, causing fear and confusion to rise up. For many of us, it’s hard to understand all the issues, hard to separate outrage and revulsion from fear, hard to work out how religious belief can lead to such violence, hard to know how we, as individuals, can have any positive effect, hard to know how to pray.
Rom 12:9 says ‘Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.’ Hating what is evil is not the same as hating people, however; Eph 6:12 reminds us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. It is important to keep this distinction in mind as we pray for justice and for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done, on earth as in heaven.
For many of us, hatred seems overpowering and it’s easy to feel helpless in the face of organised terror. Love as a weapon seems ineffectual; we only have to look at the cross to see evil and violence winning. But we only have to look at the cross to see that God’s ways are not the same as our ways and that victory is not achieved through might and power but by the Spirit of God (Zech 4:6). How this works out in daily living is not easy to discern, but we must hold on to the power of God’s love and God’s way of doing things at all times.
‘We believe Your love is the strongest way
You’re tearing down walls and You break our chains
Even in this darkness hope will rise again
When we lay down our weapons, we will let love win
Lord, we lay down our weapons and we let love win.’ (‘Let Love Win’, Carrollton)
