Streets aren't always safe these days. Small town, big city — it doesn't really matter all that much. There are some parts of town most of us avoid. And we particularly shun those places after the sun goes down. Once in a while, however, the tables get turned on the bad guys. And you have to love it.

One of those get-what's-coming-to-you days came for six would-be thieves last month in Suva, the capital city of the Pacific island of Fiji. Craig Nordstrand and Peter Roche were visiting there from New Zealand. The two of them had gone out to dinner and were returning to the hotel where both men were staying. As they made their way down the street, two menacing fellows moved into their path and demanded money. As they did so, four accomplices stepped out of the shadows. The two men from New Zealand were surrounded. What to do?

Nordstrand took on four of them, and Roche handled the other two! It just so happens they are self-defense experts. They were in Suva to compete in regional karate tournaments, and Nordstrand is a fourth-level black belt.

Woops! Talk about biting off more than they could chew, the six muggers were seriously outnumbered — by a factor of two-to-six!

The good guys had the upper hand immediately. Their attackers backed off, looked at one another in confusion, and were trying to decide what was going wrong with their plan. Trying to give fair warning, Nordstrand asked, "Do you want karate?" But the bad guys were apparently too dumb to know they had a couple of tigers by the tail. One of them lunged forward — and was kicked in the throat.

The six bad guys started running off into the dark alleys from which they had emerged. Oh, yes. One of them was having a hard time breathing and needed help from his colleagues in crime.

Please don't think me too cruel or heartless, but events like this one give me a perverse sense of satisfaction. Too many bad things happen to too many good people that don't get set straight. They will never be set straight in this life, in fact. And that's one of the many reasons the Bible tells us of a life yet to come.

Justice will be served, and evil will be exposed for what it is. Here the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer, but eventually the tables will be turned.

Too many bad things happen to too many good people that don't get set straight.
Is life scary today? Remember that evil cannot win. Truth trumps lies. Light defeats darkness. In the face of a setback, God has promised to be with you. In the meanwhile, take heart in knowing of one sorry plot that has already backfired.

[Jesus said] "For everything that is hidden or secret will eventually be brought to light and made plain to all." (Luke 8:17)