"But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger."  Romans 2:8

Evil.  This is one of those words that seems to hiss when you say it.  It is like there has been a combination of multiple hideous words to form this epic term.  "Vile" and "Ill" come to mind as root words for "EVIL".  And God doesn't look at the activity that this word represents lightly.

It seems that the verse above doesn't have much of a place in our vocabulary anymore.  And it sure doesn't sound like it belongs in the Bible does it?  "For those that follow evil, there will be wrath and anger" sounds like a God Who is madder than a disturbed hornet.  Well, is it possible that He is?  Can we handle that as truth or need we whitewash it for our weak constitutions?  Tough question.

I think we need to let the weight of the Scripture fall on us, and let God's Word rain hail on us from time to time.  The world is messed up.....sin is real and was what Jesus became for us to satisfy the wrath of God........Satan is an authentic, personal reality who is executing a plan to disrupt the beauty of gospel of the Kingdom..........Satan will lose......so will sin......but it will be painful in the interim until Jesus sets everything right.  These realities are part of the reality of the Scripture and the world we live in.  And God will deal with evil.........finally and completely.. someday.

We have just witnessed evil in our country perpetrated in two cities in Colorado.  A young man kills missionaries in training at a Christian facililty in Arvada, and then kills people by walking into a church in Colorado Springs and shooting them.  Two sisters - teenagers - just gunned down at church.  No reason......just random killing......random evil.

It makes you scratch your head and ask where God is in all of this.  He's not absent, but it sure feels like it sometimes when these things occur.  Why doesn't God just end it?  Is He incapable?  Does He care?  Why do bad things happen to good people - no, why do bad things happen to Godly people?

There aren't any easy answers - no quick formulaic responses.  But there are some answers, some understanding in the pages of Scripture.  I took a pass at this subject in the summer of this year, and if you have any questions related to this subject then maybe viewing or listening to it might help in some way - http://www.jerrygillis.com/messages/?id=211&show=vid. 

God is going to set everything right.  We can count it.

Let's just pray that God continues to exhibit His grace and reflect His glory in the face of evil while we await the final, glorious redemption of all things.  And take a minute to pray for all of the families affected by the deaths in Colorado......including the family of the shooter.

"On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.  Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.  When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."   "Dear woman, why do you involve me?"  Jesus replied.  "My time has not yet come."  John 2:1-4

It seems that Jesus' life was full of interruptions.

Everywhere he went he ended up seemingly working off book by healing someone or helping someone, or even having to answer questions from critics who interrupted his teaching.  Literally, his life seemed to be a string of interruptions.

I hate interruptions.  They totally mess me up.  I'm pretty flexible, but generally speaking I like to get after something and not succumb to distractions.  Like when I am writing my dissertation, or working on a message, or planning for the future (I would add "sleeping" to that list as well, but it just didn't seem to look smart enough or professional enough.  But, I really do hate being interrupted by that stupid alarm).  Some of us are just wired to focus on stuff more than others - and, of course, there are those that can do forty things at once and like it.  They have issues, and I am convinced they need evaluation and treatment (though they would be saying the same thing about me, huh?).

But to miss our sensitivity to interruption is to potentially miss God do the miraculous.  Sure, there are those that interrupt you that lack any kind of courtesy or sensitivity to your schedule.  But, there are also moments where God interrupts us, through people or circumstances, so that He can accomplish something greater than what we planned.  In fact, it just happened to me in another country.

I was prepared to do some seminars for pastors, in a multi-denominational setting, related to the vision of reaching every man, woman and child in that country.  Then my host, whose energy level was like Tony Robbins on steroids, decided that he wanted to change it up and wanted me to speak on a different thing than I had prepared for that evening.  So, my plan was interrupted.  Badly.  I had no messages in my pocket, and I needed a fresh word from the Lord for these people.  But God used that interruption to speak a word to me about this country from His Word, and as I shared it that night, God revealed Himself to all of us in an amazing way.  Truly, God did something greater as a result of the interrruption than would have occurred had we gone along according to our plan.

It was uncomfortable, and for me, it probably always will be.  But Jesus was interrupted too.  Alot.  In fact, the first miracle he ever performed (in John 2 at the wedding) was as a result of an interruption.  Further, if you read the gospels in their totality, you can conceivably trace nearly every miracle that Jesus performed to an interrruption of some type.  Think about that.  Jesus' life was so in tune with the Father and Spirit that He was prepared at every turn to answer, minister, teach, rebuke, heal, or lead in every interruption that came up.  His dependence on God was fuel for the miraculous and a revealing of God's glory.

What this does NOT say to me is that we should all fail to plan.  I think that is silly.  Simply, I think that we just need to be sensitive to God's Spirit in the planning, and if He chooses to change the plan.  Why? 

Because it seems that interruptions are fertile ground for the miraculous.

Now leave me alone so I can get back to work........................