Last night I fell asleep to the news that  Bin Laden was killed.  Unlike many people, I had a difficult time rejoicing. Please don’t misunderstand me. I am grateful for and proud of the men and women in the military who have fought hard to bring an end to the evil Bin Laden handed himself over to. I am grateful for the deliverance the Lord has given His people from this vessel used to bring so much pain, death, destruction and evil. I rejoice in the victory the Lord has given. I am grateful that the Lord has begun to vindicate and bring some sense of closure to all those lives lost and those still hurting from the horrible events of 9/11. I can not begin to imagine the relief they may be experiencing right now. Our soldiers should rejoice in the victory they have been given. We should be supporting and blessing them and their families for all the sacrifices they continue to make on our behalf. Gratitude, respect and honor should be given them. That is not the issue I aim to address here.

When terrorists kill, they and those who support the cause they stand for take to the streets with dancing and rejoicing over the death and destruction they have handed out in the name of their god. I can’t help but see a similarity between their behavior and the people who are dancing in the streets of our country. As a Christian, I go to the Bible for the standard and to check my heart to see if it lines up with God’s.

Pro 24:17-18  Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,  lest the LORD see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.

When David and his armies rejoiced, they did not rejoice over death and destruction. They rejoiced because the Lord gave them victory over their enemies and because the Lord let them enjoy the rewards and plunder of those victories. They did not rejoice by participating within the same condition of heart context that revels in vengeance. They did not repay evil for evil. It is one thing to rejoice because the Lord has delivered you from a vessel of evil. It is another to rejoice because a soul has been handed over to hell.

We should all be broken when a soul is lost and will never spend eternity with our Father. Celebrating death and the entrance of a soul into hell means our heart is entertaining evil. Justice is the process by which someone or something is made righteous. Eventually, if the person does not choose the righteousness of Christ, he/she is removed from God’s presence. Doesn’t that break your heart? I don’t think God rejoices when one is lost. But I know He rejoices when one comes to Him.

Another way to look at this is that Bin Laden was a man. He was one overtaken with evil, but still nothing more than a man under the influence of evil. That evil unfortunately did not die with him. The scriptures say:

Eph 6:12  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

As evil as he was, the evil still exists. Our true enemy, the source of all evil,  has not YET been bound. Our sins, as small as we may think them to be, had caused us to be separated from God and given us a need for the Savior. Bin Laden was no different. His sins, although many, would have been forgiven if he had accepted Christ as his Savior. Or do we think that Christ’s blood is good enough to cover our “little white lies” but not enough to cover all sin?

1Ti 2:1-6  First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

He wants all of us and was ransomed for all of us….if only we accept. This is where my heart is broken. Such a beautiful Redeemer we have with a gift so freely given yet we hold onto bitterness and hatred so we can pick and choose who we feel should be allowed into “our little club”. Letting go of hatred is not about relieving the other person of God’s justice. It is about relieving ourselves of the ugly ungodly things within us. God’s justice is perfect and He does not need me for His council. I’m more than ok with that.

What I am asking in all of this is for God’s people to give themselves a heart exam. Are we rejoicing in The Lord’s deliverance from a vessel of evil or are we just happy that a man has gone to hell?

Praying for our country, our soldiers and families, our leaders and the world. Let’s not pull down our guard because one of the many vessels of evil has been destroyed. There is so much evil still alive and active in this world. Fortunately for us, “Greater is He that is in You than he that is in the world.” That is a promise I will cling to!

1Jn 4:4  Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

 

*All scriptures used are from the ESV.