In America, over the last few decades, it seems that a country founded on freedom and God has become a repressive one in which hate reigns supreme. Americans fluctuate from one extreme to the other on a daily basis. One day we are memorializing Muhammad Ali, a Muslim, and the next, we are condemning all people of Muslim descent, proclaiming that what one does, must represent them all. One day we are abandoning Target and gym's that allow transgender people into the bathrooms of their choosing, the next we are spilling tears for those that were senselessly maimed and killed simply because they were in an establishment meant for LGBT. When a school is attacked and dozens of children and teachers are killed, we ask, why were there no armed officers on campus to protect them? When guns show up as protection, a right guaranteed by the 2nd amendment, we cry that there should be stricter gun laws, prohibiting such things from being around our children in schools. We want our cake and to eat it, too. But life just does not work like that.
We need to wake up! God has been so far removed from our everyday life. We send up "flare prayers" in our time of desperation, period, the end. We don't want God in schools, or on our currency, or in our anthems, but when senseless acts of violence are becoming such an anticipated aspect of our daily life, when it becomes expected, and we walk in fear of going to the movie theater, we wonder, "Where is God," and "Why does God let such terrible things happen?"
This morning, I sat with my bible and opened to where I felt God was leading me. Jeremiah 29:11. Now this verse is mind blowing to me. I had never found such weight to it until my dear friend proclaimed it as her anthem. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" These words are always comforting when I face trials, when I feel great sadness, or feel like there is no hope for our broken world. Then I remember, JESUS is our HOPE! The HOPE of NATIONS. Not just our nation, but all nations.
Jeremiah 31:2 continues on to say, "The people who survive the sword will find favor in the wilderness; I will come to give rest to Israel." Now, sure, you may think, we are not slaves driven out of Egypt and brought forth to the promised land, that's not pertinent to us. But, oh, darling, how it is. All of this senseless violence that the world is facing, pitting blacks against whites and whites against blacks, persecuting Christians and Muslims alike, cops versus civilians, killing homosexuals, terror of transgenders, we all have someone to hate for something. We feel entitled to hate whomever we want to what for whatever reason we deem worthy. We settle for hatred instead of striving for wisdom of understanding. Racism of all shapes, sizes and colors is such a predominant ideal in our society, we just accept it as normal. We then cry out, in fear, for being persecuted, when we ourselves have been persecuting unto others. Perhaps you didn't hold a firearm to someone's head, sure, but think, not too very hard, and I am sure you will think of a thing or two that you have held against another for the sake of your own perception or ideals.
Jeremiah 30:5, "'Cries of fear are heard- terror, not peace.'" God hears the cries of His people. His ways are higher than ours, His thought, higher than ours. When we see black and white, gay and straight, citizen and criminal, hero and villain, God sees brokenness, in all of us. We have all been persecuted by the sword of another, whether by deed or word. But He promises us that we can find rest in Him. When we turn to Him, when we release the ties that bind, when we turn away from persecuting, He promises that there is Hope. There is a future.
Chapter 30 continues on, verse 10, "'So do not be afraid,'"... (11)"'I am with you and will save you,'...I will discipline you but only in due measure;'"...(17)But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds.'" Chapter 31 goes on to say, that He will lead us beside still water, onto a level path, a path upon which we can not stumble, that He will gather us and keep watch over us. 31:13, "'I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.'" 31:16, "'Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,' declares the Lord."
There is a saying, in the bad times, look for the helpers. More than a saying, I think it is a philosophy that we should live by. Although, not so much just looking, but being. Instead of looking at the picture as a work of great sorrow, turn your eyes to the plans for a prosperous future that God holds for such things. Turn away from the fear, looking to God for His salvation of all people. Focus not on the wounds and the burden, but looking, instead to the path of Hope. Seek not for your own paths on which we stumble, fall and fail, but look to God for level and clear direction. Focus not on the mourning, but seek for comfort in Him who brings great joy. Wait not for others to begin helping with tears on your face, but instead, turning to God for the directions for His work for you to help others.
This world is full of lost and broken and weary sinners. We were handcrafted by God, individually designed for great works. 31:33, "'I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. (34) No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,' declares the Lord." We were ALL made to know God PERSONALLY. He breathed life into ALL of us, we were made in His image. The breath of God gave you life and it is in you, despite your sexual orientation, religion, color, political affiliation or personal beliefs. You carry the breath of God in you. You were made to breathe life into others with that very same breath. We need to use that breath to speak life, not destruction.
We all walk around this world in anticipation of the other shoe dropping, of the next bad thing, in fear, in loneliness, in brokenness, in anger and sorrow, hopeless for a brighter future. We wonder, "What's love got to do with it?" If God so LOVED the world that He sent his one and only Son to save us, to rectify us to Him, with no other demand for payment of our sin and brokenness, than LOVE has got EVERYTHING to do with it. If we choose to walk in love and faith over hatred and sorrow and persecution and blindness, the world may begin to change. Perhaps we would begin to see beyond black and white, beyond Christian and Muslim, beyond American and foreigner, beyond good and bad.
"I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see." Look to God, pray that he opens your eyes that you may begin to see. Pray to see beyond here and now, beyond you and I, beyond today and tomorrow, beyond your perception and ideals, and into light and goodness, into LOVE.
As you walk out into the world today, remember, LOVE has got EVERYTHING to do with it. Walk with open eyes in joy, in anticipation of a future, prosperous and hopeful. Do not be afraid. Be a helper. Forget about the want for firearms or separation and laws. Forget the differences that separate us and seek to see the things that unite us. Walk always in love and find rest in the Hope of Nations.
