A few days ago, I watched one of the videos showing members of a terrorist group in Iraq killing truckloads of people. Most of the victims were young men. Bullets were put into heads by cold, cruel hands. It was a blood bath. It is the face of pure evil.

I was very sobered. To see such actions fills one with the urgency that this is the time to be on our knees to our Father, awake and watching more than ever while there is yet time. Matthew 24:42-43 says, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.”

Later that day, I saw a bumper sticker on a car with a woman driving. The sticker said, “Why do people kill people to show them that it is wrong to kill people?” The human part of me, after seeing the video earlier, was ready to educate the woman. But this world is spiritually blind for now. So I meditated on these things then.

I cried in my thoughts to God, “Oh, Lord God, there is so much pure evil! How did it get this bad?”

And I had to think. I can't just go about my happy little life, oblivious to just how degenerate this world has quickly deteriorated into. Or did it? Wasn't it this bad already throughout the generations? Sometimes it was under the surface more than at other times. Man's way without God does not work. What have I done or not done to contribute to the failure of mankind to come to the loving standards that God sets before us? His standards lead to real peace and happiness.

I've wasted a lot of time. I am “just a homemaker” right now. What does God want me to do? In Luke 22:49-53 and in Matthew 26:51, Jesus shows that evil and the power of darkness are being allowed for a relatively short time. Christ answers my questions as to how He personally wants me to react.

I also believe that God does not want me to hide my head in the sand and ignore the problems, hoping they will all just go away. We cannot worry whether we should speak the truth. Many people today laugh at or dismiss those who are willing to tell the truth about what is happening in the world today. The events often seem unbelievable. But the facts are getting more obvious to see.

Later that evening, I studied online and read eye-witness accounts of what is happening now in North Korea. The atrocities done in the North Korean work camps are no less, if not more, horrendous than what was done in Hitler's concentration camps. I looked at drawings smuggled out of the country, showing what is happening in these camps. My heart is filled with pity for these people. Many of the victims in North Korea and in Iraq paid with their lives because they called themselves Christian. 

I looked at more photos from Iraq and Pakistan. It is sickening. These facts cannot be dismissed. We cannot pretend that there is not a worldwide conspiracy, orchestrated by Satan, playing out before our very eyes. 1 Thessalonians 5:3 says, “For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.”

Here are more facts to remember: in Luke 12:32, Jesus said, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

We have hope and assurance!

We can also be very thankful. We can appreciate every bit of love and beauty that God has blessed us with. Let us appreciate every moment. Let us be sober and kind to others and do whatever we can to lighten the load or the stress of those around us.

In preparing to submit this blog, I stopped and read the last dozen or so blogs posted on this site. They are filled with encouragement and tips for having hope in a very discouraging world. I hope you will read many of these also, and be encouraged. Pray, fast, and always remember, God will prevail!