Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

At first glance, I don’t really know what to do with this one. So, I did the only thing I know how to do. I turned to a Bible commentary. That proved to be no help.

I am not one who thinks that God leads us into those bad places. I do think, however, that he lets us go there so I can better understand him. I mean, how can I understand light if I haven’t experienced the dark? I would never understand it.

God is love and life. When I have those times away from Him I start to crave that connection. Right now that is where I am with God. It’s not that he has left me, or is sending the hard times, but my connection is weak.

I do believe in evil. I have some friends who don’t really want to believe that humans are evil, but I know that humans have that capacity. The Congo and other places where genocide reigns supreme are proof. Not to mention the recent tragedy in Norway. A guy blew up a bomb by a Norwegian Government district killing seven people. He then apparently went to an island where the ruling party was holding a summer camp for the youth of that party. He open fired, and last I heard he open fired on the attendees for an hour and a half. 85 people were killed there. People are still missing, so that number may rise.

I don’t know how someone faced with this could say that people are not capable of evil. Just thinking about it makes my stomach turn. God doesn’t say he will stop these events yet. Not to sound super cliché, but we live in a world that is broken. This is a symptom of that brokenness. While that will not bring back those lost, it gives me hope. Someday, Jesus will come back and banish the evil that causes people to do atrocious acts like this. Someday, God will deliver humanity from the evil that plagues this world and we will live in the kingdom that God had in mind from the beginning.

That doesn’t help us now, but remember how this prayer ends:
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
God is in control. While right now we suffer, he will deliver us from evil. That is a promise.

Until then, we need to pray. We need to try and live a life that is reflected in this prayer. We need to remember how God rescued us, and run to him like Stoyan runs to Jeff. We need to try to let go of our matches and allow room for God’s Kingdom. We need to be thankful for the blessings God has lavished on us, and try to turn those blessings out to those who have less. We need to forgive those who wrong us including ourselves, and remember that God forgives us too. God will not abandon us. He never has and never will. Beautiful, huh?