“Eli's sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the Lord.” – 1 Samuel 2:12

In this stirring and thoughtful argument, N.T. Wright illustrates the complexity of evil by telling the story of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and his return to his home country of Russia after many years in exile [Solzhenitsyn] greeted all the people he met on his journey across Russia, including those local bureaucrats who had tyrannized their fellow citizens under the Communist system but who had stayed on in office after 1989. Some objected: what was Solzhenitsyn doing fraternizing with these people who had been part of the evil system?

No, he responded, the line between good and evil is never simply between “us” and “them.” The line between good and evil runs through each one of us. There is such a thing as wickedness, and we must distinguish between small and low-grade versions of it and large and terrible versions of it. We must not make the trivial mistake of supposing that a one-off petty thief and a Hitler are exactly alike, that the same level of evil is attained by someone who cheats in an exam and by a Bin Laden. But nor must we suppose that the problem of evil can be either addressed or solved if we trivialize it in the other way, of labeling some people “good” and other people “bad.”

Because of his great love for sinners, Jesus conquered evil at the Cross. Today in prayer, confess any sin to Jesus and seek His will in all of your ways.

“At the heart of the story stands the cross of Christ where evil did its worst and met its match.” – John W. Wenham

God’s Word: “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” – Romans 12:9

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2026, Devotional E-Mail   

DEVOTIONS IN THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL, CHRONICLES AND KINGS †

“So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I asked the Lord for him.’” – 1 Samuel 1:20

Dallas Willard writes: “Agnes Sanford relates how, as the young wife of an Episcopal minister, her child came down with a serious ear infection. It lasted for six weeks while she prayed fearfully and fruitlessly.

Then a neighboring minister called to see her husband and learned that the child was sick. Quite casually, though intently and in a businesslike manner, he prayed for the little boy, who immediately shut his eyes, lost his fever flush and went to sleep.

When the boy awoke, his fever was gone and his ears were well. Sanford remarks,

The strange thing is that this did not immediately show me a new world. Instead, it perplexed me greatly. Why did God answer the minister’s prayers when He had not answered mine? I did not know that I myself blocked my own prayers, because of my lack of faith. 

Nor did I know that this [successful] prayer could not come from resentment and darkness and unhappiness, as a pipeline can be clogged with roots and dirt. This doubt and confusion remained in my mind, even though the child himself, whenever he subsequently had a bit of an earache, demanded that I pray for him.”

Our Heavenly Father desires to hear the prayers of our hearts and to answer them. Today in prayer, praise the Lord that our God loves us and answers prayer.

“When I stop praying, the coincidences stop happening.” – William Temple

God’s Word: “Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him,’ and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.” – Psalm 13:3-5

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2026, Devotional E-Mail   

DEVOTIONS IN THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL, CHRONICLES AND KINGS †