Over the past 6 months things have become especially crazy in our world. Most recently the Covid 19 epidemic and Black Lives Matter movement have impacted life in profound ways.

Covid 19 has definitely had a huge impact on what life looks like on a day to day basis. Fear seems to be running high most everywhere- fear of getting sick, fear of not having needed supplies (like toilet paper…), fear of not having financial income/stability, fear of losing a loved one, fear of being alone, fear of not knowing what the future holds, and fear of isolation. These are all very real and true things to be concerned about, but the thing that breaks my heart is that the focus on fear is stealing the joy and blessings that each day offers. If our focus is only one of fear and despair, one will miss the blessings that are present. I always tell my family that in every struggle or trial there is a treasure!! Something to be grateful for and to allow you to experience peace and joy in the midst of difficult times. In the Bible the words “fear not” are present over 365 times- that’s a daily reminder to trust the Lord and His provision. We have a choice to choose faith or fear. We can choose to live in fear and unrest or we can choose to lean into the promises of God and choose joy and gratitude. You can’t live in both camps at the same time. I pray fear and chaos don’t steal the beauty in each day. There is always something to be grateful for each day-some days it’s easier to find than others but it is there!!

Secondly, the Black Lives Matter movement while on some fronts has been represented by peaceful protests, on other fronts there have been violent riots and destruction of property. I question the overall productiveness of the violent and destructive means for any cause. I struggle with all the labeling and judgement of all people based on race, gender and whatever other title culture wants to come up with. For me, all people matter. I believe God loves everyone and He loves and values diversity as well. I believe culture has used diversity in this country to create division. I believe God meant for diversity to be celebrated in the uniqueness of each individual and the unique purpose for which He designed each individual. He is a multifaceted God. So I ask myself what is the underlying root cause of the outward displays of violence and hatred for another individual. Fear, anger, unforgiveness, bitterness, rage, selfishness, etc are all displayed as a result of a deeper underlying “heart condition”. They are the manifestation of what one holds deep within their heart. Ones internal “heart condition” is portrayed through a persons behavior and interaction with others. What’s the old saying- actions speak louder than words?! What if we choose to listen and value another person’s different perspective? What if varying perspectives gave vision to a bigger picture? What if we focused more on commonalities and strengthened those aspects through relationship-would not the chasm of the differences start to be healed as we meet each other where we are today and truly tried to understand and communicate respectively with one another? What if these deeper discussions caused each individual to then take a step back and reflect on why they believe what they believe or to try and understand why another person believes what they believe? What if it caused each individual to look at their own “heart condition” and to work on areas that need to be healed- some of which may have been blind spots they didn’t recognize? I know it’s a lot of “what if’s” and I know that this is an area the Lord is working on in my heart too. Do I choose to value each individual regardless of whatever label culture gives them and to see each person as loved and valued equally by God and therefore by me as well? May my actions speak louder than my words.

I pray that we each continue to check our own individual “heart condition” and choose to value each human life as valuable. I believe for true lasting change to happen we each need to start with our own “heart condition”, our own families, and expanding beyond that to our individual sphere of influence. Hurting people tend to hurt people even if they don’t do it intentionally and hurting people tend to be self focused on their own wounds making them less able to see and value others in the way God does. There is healing through God’s love-I’ve lived it and am so grateful. There is hope, but it begins within each individual’s “heart condition” and seeing each life as equally valuable. God can heal heart wounds if you will allow Him the access to do so. We all have influence on the people in our lives. What will your influence look like? Blessings and Shalom!!!!