The personification of evil

I had a dream last night.  In the dream I saw evil personified as a group of tiny people from a certain ethnic group -- and they were entering into our home.  We were threatened and decided that they should be destroyed.  So, using a lot of water, I flushed these evil people down the sink (they were very tiny!).  I had to squash them down with my fingers, one by one, into the drain. (Yes, quite comical but apparently this is how I would kill if given the task.)  After I'd done my deed I realized these were human beings that I squashed down and killed!  My heart became horrified and filled with guilt - why hadn't I consulted with God first on what to do?!  

The Bible tells us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers in the unseen spiritual world (Ephesians 6:12).  Because we do not see spirits and only see the people that they influence, we mistake people for the devil.  Just as God chooses to use us as agents of His goodness, so also we sometimes yield to the devil's lead and do what he would want.  Christians are admonished to distinguish between people and their deeds.  We see an example of this from Jesus when he prayed for those who were crucifying him -- praying even as he hung on the cross (Luke 23:34).  We see the same thing when God withheld his wrath from the repentant Ninevites (they had done much evil [Jonah 3:10]).  In a surprising example, we see Jesus rebuke Peter, his own disciple, saying "Get behind me, Satan!" (Mark 8:33).  Jesus knew who the real adversary was.

We are conditioned to react to people according to the way we are treated.  The dream reminds me that in all situations seeking God's perspective should be my first inclination.