Relentless

Have you ever noticed that bad people never stop pursuing their wicked aims? The only thing that stopped Hitler's assault on Jewish people was the Allied Forces. Stalin oppressed his people until the day he died. Pol Pot was captured by His enemies immediately following a massacre he orchestrated. Idi Amin was finally stopped by his fellow countrymen who somehow found the strength to overthrow his government. More recently, several longtime leaders in the Arab world have been dethroned because people had had enough of their domineering, oppressive ways.




What stops good people?  Do good people have the same relentless drive to bless the people around them? Do they refuse to stop reaching out in love and kindness until they no longer have the strength to go on? 

Mother Teresa lived and died serving and loving the people of  India. Thousands of soldiers fight and give their lives to protect people they've never met from those who would oppress them. Social workers work long hours with huge work loads for meager pay because they care about little children and the elderly. Godly women volunteer every week in Crisis Pregnancy Center because they love women and the babies they are afraid they can't care for. That being said, I never heard of a Despot who suffered from burnout. 

There's another set of characters in this battle between good and evil. These are they who simply live their lives and never really take sides. These people are willing to tolerate a certain amount of  evil in the world. After all, there's not much they can do, they think. But they are so wrong! It is they who can break the stalemate. Those who are not in the game, who are doing neither much good nor much evil, can push either side to the tipping point. It is when these bystanders become so disgusted with the evil in their world that they must act that Evil is overthrown. Usually this means that Evil has grown large enough, strong enough to make them so uncomfortable  that they must act to save themselves. When things have reached this point Evil is so powerful that it cannot be overthrown without massive upheaval and destruction. Unfortunately, this means the good suffer greatly along with the bad.


President Kennedy said it so well when he repeated this quote. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”




Which way will you go?