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LENT REFLECTIONS (DAY 31)

Deliver us from evil is the theme for our reflection. A person or thing is evil if the person or thing causes harm, distress, sorrow or calamity. Deliver us from evil is a prayer of redemption from anything that may bring sorrow or calamity into our lives.

There are different sources of evil in the world. In Scripture, evil comes upon us in four main ways. They are self-induced evil (sin)(Romans 6:23), evil caused by spiritual forces (Ephesians 6:12), evil caused by human enemies (Genesis 4:8) and evil caused by natural disaster (Luke 21:11). The good and refreshing news is that God is able to deliver us from all these evils because He is the creater of the universe, the beginning and the end. It is for this purpose, the psalmist brings his prayer of deliverance before God praying that “Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan, because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me.” (Psalm 55:1-3)

Dear friend in the Lord, the Scripture does not conclusively explain to us why God allows the righteous and innocent to become victims of evil, however, it gives us an assurance that God is still in control of our lives in all situations. Isaiah 55:9 tells us that “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Jeremiah further assures us that “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. (Jeremiah 29:11-12). In other words, so long us our Redeemer lives evil will come but will not triumph, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” (Job 19:25-27) Shalom

PRAYER

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Amen (Matthew 6: 9-13)