Once again we have witnessed the graphic reality of evil. One man, for reasons yet unknown, decided that he would take the lives of as many as possible in an open attack on a crowd of people who were gathered for the purpose of enjoying a concert. He carefully chose the position from which he would have an unobstructed view of his target. He secretly, seemingly unnoticed, stockpiled a cache of weapons which would be used to carry out his evil intent. At the most opportune moment, he opened fire on that large, unsuspecting crowd. As of this writing, 59 individuals are dead, and more than 500 injured, from this act of terror.

What would compel someone to commit such a heinous act? How could someone be so cold, so calculating, so unbelievably wicked as to plot a despicable deed such as this? The title of this blog states this writer’s answer: evil. Evil is ever present in this world. Evil lurks in the hearts of men and women. Evil thoughts, which left unchecked, will eventually turn into evil actions. Now, granted, the vast majority of humans never act out their evil thoughts. Who would be so bold as to assert that he has never had an evil thought go through their mind? Perhaps not evil on the scale as we have witnessed in Las Vegas, but evil, none-the-less. Someone has hurt you in some way, and you entertain the thought of revenge. You plot and plan and scheme in your mind how you might inflict some sort of pain on that person who has wronged you. You actually come up with a plan of action that you feel would be justifiable in light of what you have suffered. Chances are you would never act on those impulses, but the thoughts are there.

And yet, we see those who don’t stop with just thoughts. Those thoughts grow stronger with the passing of time. You begin to think, “I might be able to pull this off. I might be able to get even, and do it in such a way that no one would ever think that it was me.” And we dwell on it. These thoughts consume us. We can’t get it out of our mind. And finally, we do it.

It is obvious that Stephen Paddock had given plenty of time and thought to this evil act. It took quite a bit of planning and scheming to pull this off. He had somehow sneaked an arsenal of weapons into a hotel without drawing any attention to himself. He entered that room with everything he needed to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting crowd 32 stories below. With cold, methodical action, and with no obstruction between him and his target, he pulled the trigger. Shot after shot rang out. Bodies began to fall to the ground. At first, according to eyewitnesses, most thought it was part of the show. But it only took a matter of seconds to realize that was real blood, and those were real people being shot, wounded, killed.

Evil. It lurks in the beating heart of every human. Its desire is to take control, to drive us to madness, to compel us to act upon those impulses, to seek revenge, to hurt as we have been hurt.

Now, to the conclusion. In all honesty, there, but for the grace of God, would I go. Yes, there have been times that the fleeting thought has gone through my mind to hurt, to get even, to inflict injury and pain. It might be in that instant in which someone cuts me off in traffic, and I ball up my fist, shake it at them, and in my heart, at least for that moment, I want to see them suffer. It could be that person who hurt me long years ago, but I have never quite gotten over the pain and the hurt, and every time that person comes to mind I have hard, hurt feelings to arise once again, and the thought of seeing them suffer momentarily captivates my mind.

Why? Why do we have such vile thoughts? Why do we act in such vile ways? Why do we see those who act out their evil intentions? The Bible is where we turn to seek answers to these unspeakable acts of terror. It is there, in God’s Word, that we find the following declaration: “The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil” (Gen. 6:5). This is a statement concerning the depravity of the human heart. There are those who act out their depraved nature by performing unspeakable acts of evil such as we have once again witnessed in Las Vegas.

We should all be forever grateful that the vast majority of humans who populate this planet never act out the evil they often feel in their hearts. It is the restraining power of God, according to the Apostle Paul’s teachings, that keeps evil in check. However, according to that same apostle, there is coming a day when that which restrains evil from running its full course will be removed. Then, evil will have its way. And, according to Jesus Himself, if God did not shorten those days of the outpouring of pure evil, no one would survive.

Yes, evil is real – very real. We have seen yet another example. We will see more. God is our only hope. Please, if you have not already done so, find your peace in Him.