I don’t know her name. But as one word spilled from her lips, my attention laser-focused. Ukraine.
The 60ish woman gave us a small smile not quite reaching her eyes. Our seatmate spoke little English but Mom and I communicated our greeting as we soared through the clouds. Through bits and spurts and hand motions, she told us she had fled Ukraine. And in an instant, we steepled our hands to show our prayers for her country. She nodded, speaking one word repeatedly—I assume it was “thank you.”
Because of our distance from foreign soil, our minds easily wipe away the destruction being rained down on innocent lives. At first, prayer flowed regularly, but as with human nature, we get wrapped in our own lives and forget the suffering we don’t daily see. We often shelter ourselves from evils that upset us.
But in that moment, face to face with a survivor, it all comes rushing back—the anger toward injustice, the helplessness, the desire for retribution. Though I know well—vengeance belongs to the Lord.
In February, we reeled, knocked for a loop yet again—as we watched the news, witnessing a carpet bomb of violence. And like a lightning storm in an inky sky, another gale threatens our hard-won peace of mind. Images flash of evil unleashed—as the innocent die and destruction rains on Ukraine—battling Goliath for all they hold dear.
And our slow emergence from an upside-down world tilted yet again, not by an insatiable virus but by the poison arrow of a looming physical presence—a ravenous Russia.
I feel like I’m living in a James Bond nightmare. Favorite movies of my Dad, we gobbled them all. Multiple times. Actors represented one malevolent country most often—at least twelve times. You guessed it, Russia the perfect Hollywood bad guy.
But fiction imitates life.
From Olympic cheating to threats of nuclear war, as long as I can remember, Russia embodied the devious bully. Friendly as a rattlesnake, forever bent on world domination, any alliance with us simmers uneasy at best. They sneak and plot like a jealous rival—always competing, always looking to be finally proclaimed top dog—regardless of the toll.
Even in the mundane world of entertainment, they can’t stand to lose. Olympic doping scandals have lost Russia 46 medals. They have been caught 150 times, still, they persist. In an obsessive Hitler-esqe fashion, they sanction drug regimens by team doctors to create a team of perfection—super athletes.
They became late-night TV fodder in their cheating desperation to be the best. But as jokes flew, it watered-down our perception of the true evil that lurked.
But no one laughs now as greed turns violent in its Ukrainian land grab. With no qualms about the human toll, their selfish ambition takes on a deadly face. And since my encounter, I have kept up with the war better and often think…This can’t be real, can it? How can they just go in and blow people up as the world watches in horror?
And this newest war for domination won’t be the last. The dark ruler of the world will see to it. His tools of envy, jealousy and selfish ambition go hand in hand. No wonder James 3:14-16 warns hard:
“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
We can trace the sometimes deadly race of envy and covetousness from the near beginning of mankind with:
—Murderous Cain who envied Abel’s approval from God
—Sarah’s jealous mistreatment of fertile Hagar
—Conniving Rebecca and Jacob in want of Esau’s birthright
—Envious Rachel over fruitful Leah
—Joseph’s brothers who tried to get rid of the favorite son.
— Plotting King Saul bent against a faithful David
Centuries of envy culminating in the ultimate betrayal—during Jesus’ final hours.
“…(Pilate) realized by now that the leading priests had
arrested Jesus out of envy.” Mark 15:10
The sharp-edged truth reveals our nature. We want what others have. But unlike Russia in its disregard for anything standing in the way of their bulldoze toward supremacy—we have a Lord who answers our prayers and shows us a better way.
So as you reflect on these scriptures and pray to resist the grasp of envy, remember the heavy toll on our brothers and sisters in Ukraine and lift them up as they fight for freedom.
And as always—
Our Lord who orders our world,
Provides us with His comforting words—
Full of everlasting candles in the dark.