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by Nathan Buck

Have you ever found yourself shouting at the screen during a movie, especially at home, when the bad guy seems to be ruthlessly getting away with everything? We especially feel the tension when the good people and the heroes are injured or killed. We feel the sense of horror and outrage, and a part of us cannot help but speak up. We especially feel our anger grow when the villain makes his 'final' move to power.

When the bad guy turns on the evil henchmen he used to gain power, we see him securing his position as the strongest, the most powerful, and the only one left with enough power to control the people, the nation, the world. It's in that moment we see the full narcissism and depravity of evil. Turning on those who were friends, or at least cohorts, in achieving their position, the truly evil character reveals the corruption of ambition and the total selfishness of tyranny.

Read Judges 9:42-49 and look at Abimelech. After he kills Gaal and everyone who turned Gaal in, he hears that Shechem's leaders have gathered. It doesn't take much to interpret Abimelech's motives. This is the moment where he believes he could rise to power, even above those who helped him get power, and he moves to destroy them. Not only is he successful, but now he has the confidence to move against anyone who will not bow to his power.

The saddest part of situations like this is that they are very true - and happen in our world VERY often. The hunger for control and power has, at its core, a disregard for others. The disregard is so strong that it sees others as merely tools to accomplish our own goals. This desire is in all of us to some degree, depending on the situation or goal. And if our desire is strong enough, we will even eliminate anyone who gets in our way.

I invite you to do a heart check on your own motives as you interact with other people. Do you see them and their story? Do you see what you can do to help them reach their goals? Or do you only see where they can help you reach yours?

When it comes to our election this year, we must do our best to discern if this is a season for an 'Abimelech' to run his/her course through our nation, or if we are to stop them from coming to power. And if God does bring them to power, will we have the trust that He will make sure things turn out the way they should?

Next week's blog post may help in reminding us to trust Him. Stay tuned.

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