We wake this week to a new reality. It’s one we have prayed and longed for. Though painful, this historic moment carries with it a deep spiritual clarity.
Last week, darkness was challenged. Not by hatred, but by the strength to say … enough. We won’t let the darkness rule over our lives any longer.
For decades, the Islamic Iranian regime has waged war. Not only on Israel, not only on America, but on the very foundations of Western civilization that we hold sacred.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.
On the parliament floor and every platform they occupied, this regime called Israel “the little Satan” and America “the great Satan.” And they meant it — because what they hate, what they have always tried to destroy, is not just a people or a place; it is the light of Judeo-Christian values — the belief that human life is sacred, that freedom is holy, and that God created every person in His image.
These are the values that hold up everything we cherish: justice, compassion, dignity, and truth. These are the values that extremists fear most.
But evil doesn’t just live in Tehran. And it doesn’t only move through its proxies. It seeps. It erodes. It creeps into silence and comfort and compromise — into institutions, and headlines, and families.
This is spiritual warfare. And if we don’t call it that, we risk forgetting what we are truly fighting — not only missiles and regimes, but the slow and deadly unraveling of the moral and spiritual foundation that holds back darkness. The corrosion of truth. The turning of right into wrong, and wrong into virtue.
And when we allow it to flourish — when we grow tired, or afraid to confront it, or unwilling to name it, we risk losing everything.
This is the deeper battle. This is what we are standing against — not only to protect land, but to protect light.
Scripture teaches us how to live in such a world: “Turn from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14). It is not enough to hope for peace. We must turn from evil, actively, with moral courage. Only then can we do good.
Scripture also tells us that “The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace” (Psalm 29:11). It is one sentence — strength and peace are one. Because peace without strength is fragile, and strength without the pursuit of peace is empty. But when you fight for life, for good, for truth, your strength becomes a vessel for blessing.
We are Rodef Shalom, pursuers of peace. But there are moments when pursuing peace means standing up with everything we have against the forces that destroy it.
This is one of those moments.
Yes, the road is hard. There is pain. No one prays for confrontation. I don’t want to be running to my bomb shelter in Israel multiple times a day. I don’t want to see my people suffer.
But friends, if we aren’t ready to pay a tough price for freedom, we have to be ready for barbarism. And we are not willing to accept a world where evil reigns.
If I have learned one thing from my faith, it’s that light always triumphs over darkness, even when it flickers. Good always prevails over evil, even when it bleeds.
And the God of Israel — the God of our shared faith — never abandons those who walk His path with courage.
We hold fast today not only for ourselves, but for our children and our children’s children. We are shaping a future in which terror will no longer be exported across the world, in which fear will not govern free nations, and in which the eternal values that gave birth to our civilization will rise again in strength and clarity.
From Jerusalem, to every heart across the world that still believes in righteousness, in truth, and in the God who makes peace — we stand with you. We pray with you. And we do not walk alone.
May the God of peace bless us with strength.
May the God of strength bless us with peace.
As President and CEO of The Fellowship, Yael Eckstein oversees all programs and serves as the international spokesperson for the organization. With over a decade of non-profit experience in multiple roles, Yael has the rare distinction of being a woman leading one of the world’s largest religious charitable organizations. In addition to her podcast exploring the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, Nourish Your Biblical Roots. Yael also invites thought-leaders, pastors, authors, and other influencers to discuss Israel and Jewish-Christian relations on Conversations with Yael. She is the 2023 recipient of the Jerusalem Post’s Humanitarian Award, and in 2020 and 2021, was named to the publication’s list of 50 Most Influential Jews. Born outside of Chicago, Yael is based in Israel with her husband and their four children.
