The Way of the Wicked

“For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” Psalm 1:6

The way of the wicked will perish, but while the wicked roam they make hell on earth. I am reading a missionary’s account of his trips to Somalia in 1992 when he represented many Christian relief organizations to see what they could do to help the people. The book is entitled, “The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected” by Nik Ripken. 

Somaliland was in the grip of a terrible drought, and caught in a brutal miserable civil war. Nik’s first stop was Hargeisa. For the seventy thousand people who still ‘lived’ there, only seven houses had roofs still covering it. All the rest were just wandering hopelessly through their devastated city with no destination. On top of that there were thousands and thousands of land mines scattered around the city.

Nik was informed by his contacts that in Somali there was “ninety percent unemployment, eighty-five percent starvation or severe malnutrition rate, more than three hundred thousand citizens starved to death over the preceding six months, as many as three thousand starvation deaths a day.”

When Nik went outside of Hargeisa, he just saw more despair and signs of violent and inhumane cruelty. Armed raiders destroyed the old fashioned hand pumps and permanently sealed off the wells by filling it with rocks and sand. All along the way there were rotting carcasses of camels, goats, and even people. The smell was horrific. In the little villages they visited, emaciated mothers were begging that they take their children. In others, all they found were stick thin dead bodies. 

Relief agencies were hesitant to help because over 80% of the relief goods were stolen and never reached the hungry. 

Nik asked why the callousness, and one of his staff answered with a Somali saying he had heard all of his life: “Somalia against the world; I and my clan against Somalia; I and my family against my clan; I and my brother against my family; and I against my brother.” This is the essence of evil: selfishness. 

I pray that I will root out any selfishness within me. But I cannot do it on my own. Only by God’s spirit will we be saved.

“Brothers and sisters: If you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.” Galatians 5:18-25