“Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12: 21NLT
Several of my friends and acquaintances have gone the route of choosing to focus on the evil, not the good, in the world. Especially during the time when I went through a recent cancer journey, I found this emphasis on the bad side of things to be unhelpful as well as unhealthy. I needed all the assistance I could muster to have a sunnier attitude.
Recently, I had an experience of rubbing shoulders with such a downward looking person. I was talking to my hairdresser while receiving my haircut, and somehow, we brought up use of our cell phones. She considered them to be dangerous and asked me if I knew that I was being listened to by “them” even as I sat innocently in my home. I expressed myself rather humorously that I hope “they” would join me in prayer or learn and be persuaded in faith as they overheard conversations with my Christian friends and family. Her reply was that she saw her phone as something evil that she used as little as possible.
She looked rather shocked at my take on it, and must have been even more surprised as I went on to tell her the other ways I made use of it. I explained how each morning, I used my phone to look up my God words (attributes of God) that I would use to guide my prayer time. I focus on that particular quality of God’s personality and how it impacted the world, myself, and my loved ones. I also looked up articles and sermons on the same topic on which to meditate. As well, I sent verses and Christian memes to several friends and family members. In addition, I used group texts to share prayer requests and to accept theirs from Christian group members.
You see, I feel that all sorts of items in our current culture can be used, including technology, for good, as well as for evil. We don’t have to sneak around hiding from technical objects or people who might overcome us. Especially is that true if we have a strong faith and commitment to the Lord.
Even the things that could take us down can also be used for good if we allow the Lord to guide us, such as the way He led me through my cancer journey. He helped me to use it as an opportunity to bring others to Him.
How can we make the most of our lives as Christians to follow Jesus and help others to do the same if we’re so preoccupied with what the enemy is doing and all the conspiracy theories surrounding that? We need awareness, not a total concentration on his devious work and its impact. God turns everything around for good as we give them over to Him. He doesn’t always heal, but He can use the health situation as a tool to work out the best eternal solution for that person. Also, He can do this in financial problems and all other kinds of deficits.
So, I desire a more upward view of the life I see around me so that I can be used by Him as a helper and not an obstacle to other’s wellbeing.