In the past week we've lost two more precious children of God due to senseless violence, and certainly many more that the media hasn't covered all over our nation and the world. People die every day, with only those close to them grieving or aware. Systemic racism, police brutality, gun control issues — you could cite any of these, but to me, and certainly to the families affected, none of these justify the loss of lives. It doesn't matter if they did or didn't have a criminal record, if they had a gun on their person at the time or not, if they looked suspect. Nothing. Nothing can change the fact that their lives were valuable and their deaths were undeserving.
It's undeniable that we live in a broken world. With all of the lives lost in the past year to police brutality, shootings such as those in Orlando just weeks ago, those killed and displaced by the civil war in Syria, and a million other things in our world, it's abundantly clear that change is needed. I could write for hours in an attempt to fully address all of these issues that I'm passionate about, but I'd do no justice to them, certainly none for those affected.
Despite dissension on the recent shootings and Black Lives Matter movement, the Syrian Refugee Crisis, and other major issues of today, we must unite together. For me, it's clear that our world needs Jesus, the only one who can truly change things, who can work in our hearts and breed love deep in our souls. With that, we're not powerless. With His love in us, we must band together and let love reign in our world, in our nation. Hatred has had its way recently, but it is powerless at the feet of Christ. In Him, we have the power to make change. We can love as He loves, grieve with the hurting, stand for justice, and much more with our lives. Together we can bring change, but separated, we remain a resounding mess of arguing and inaction.
I'm not ashamed to say that I don't know the solution. I can't guarantee how many protests it will take to get legislative reform. I don't know what it will take to fully eradicate the years of implicit prejudice that our society has pumped into people for generations. I don't know how many more lives will be lost before our world wakes up. I don't know.
All I know to do is pray, grieve, hope, and keep my faith in God at an all time high. I wish to make a difference in whatever way I'm able to, even if that's just through intentional conversations or loving people the best I can. As my life has had its own devastation and struggles, I have to trust that Jesus knows what He's doing, even when I feel like questioning Him at every junction. The same goes for our world. He feels the pain of His children, and though we can't always see what He's up to, He is a God of love, of grace, of justice, and of hope. He will redeem our world. He has sacrificed Himself for us, allow a way for hope and peace despite circumstances that leave us wishing for a way out. Though our world is falling apart, rest assured that this is not our true home.
I encourage people to hold onto the God's word even more in the coming times. In a world that's shaking, we need the firmest Foundation. We must hold together, love each other, love our neighbors, love strangers, love those who share nothing in common with us except their inherent humanity. We must pray until wordless groans take over. We must stand for truth and stand for justice. We must trust that Jesus is in full control, though our world has lost all binding.
I don't have all the answers, and I don't have all the power to change the world, but I know who does, and I cling to Him.
"Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us." - 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 (NIV)