Good for evil

I recall hearing John Paul Jackson talking about spinning things. In particular, if a person had a dark dream, he would interpret it in such a way that there was a positive response that could be made. Now, it's possible to see this as deception. I had a dream where Satan was telling me I was going to die, but, you are telling me that God wants me to live. Sure, it's not exactly what the dream said, yet, it is true and does communicate something God is really saying.

While watching Numbers last night the closing dialog, one of my favorite parts of the show, had a meeting of the minds of two diametrically opposed characters. The two older men, one a civil protester and the other, a Vietnam vet, couldn't represent more opposite sides of an argument. Yet, in their reconciliation, the vet noted that the protester was incredibly strong because he was able to withstand and not retaliate to an attack from a police officer. That required greater strength than resorting to violence.

That got me thinking. If we regularly respond to evil with good (as John Paul was discussing indirectly) and Jesus told us directly to do, it is tremendously difficult process. And, the more we do it, the more difficult it gets. I believe grace sets in an allows us to do things we couldn't do in and of ourselves. But, the idea that we can actively stop evil with the supernatural bullet proof vest intrigues me. Sure, when you get shot with a bullet proof vest, it hurts. However, you still live whereas normally you wouldn't.

Taking this even further (from the concept of evil between people) I wonder, when satan entices us to evil (James' temptations and/or trials) or assaults us (Ephesians' fiery darts), can we respond the same way? I can imagine it would be much more difficult. When we are attacked by people, we at least know what happened, who did it, etc. In other words, we saw the hit. With satan, we rarely, if ever, see the attack. In fact, I find in my life, it's only the symptoms and wounds that indicate I have been attacked. So, my trials/temptations or fiery darts are the only indication the invisible, spiritual realm is against me. With people, it is visible when conflict has arisen. I am curious what God will help me understand about this.