Change – Be the Light

In these turbulent days, I think we’d be remiss as authors if we didn’t at least address the issues before us. It troubles me deeply that we’ve come to riots in the streets. That peaceful protests have been reduced to mob mentality.

But, why should we be surprised? Man’s inhumanity to man has existed since the Garden of Eden. The minute Eve determined she would eat from the Tree of Knowledge, then convinced Adam that he should follow suit, we’ve been a fallen race.

Fallen race covers the entire human race. Skin color wasn’t mentioned. There was no you’re darker than I so you must be bad and out to harm me, or you’re a whole lot lighter than I so you must be bad and out to harm me. We were all the human race just as we are today. Then, as now, the issue wasn’t the color of one’s skin, but sin. Plain and simply sin had become very real. It turned brother on brother when Cain killed Abel.

It’s easy to sit in our homes today and look back and say we/they should have, or if only. It’s easy to declare or try to convince ourselves that racist doesn’t apply to us. But in reality— it very likely describes every single one of us. Not a pretty label, but we are the only ones who can change that label. We, the individual.

 

Change has been called for since the beginning of time. But it’s time to be the change. Not just expect everyone else to change. We must do our part, too.

IT BEGINS WITH EACH OF US

It begins with changing our hearts toward our fellowman. We need to examine our true feelings and attitudes. We need to ask God to show us where and how we need to change as an individual. Do we truly love our neighbor as ourselves? Do we fear our neighbor because they’re different from us? Only when more of us become the people of light shining into the dark night, the people God created us to be, will things begin to change. But it starts within the individual heart. Sin is a heart problem. It’s been around since the beginning of time.

As we read through our Bible chronologically, it’s very plain that even in Biblical days, there was strife amongst the people. Even relatives turned against relatives because they were different. They were from a different part of the world. They refused passage to the Israelites as they traveled through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. Even though Moses told them, paraphrased, we’ll pass through and won’t look right or left, we won’t take your livestock, we won’t even drink from your wells, they were still denied the King’s highway. They were forced to go the long way around.

They didn’t see these people as brethren. Even as kin. They saw them only with hearts full of fear, hearts that felt threatened because they were different. This brings to mind the praise song, Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord. Only when we begin to see our brothers and sisters through God’s eyes and not our human eyes, will we be able to change.

PRAY

I’m no scholar. I don’t have easy answers. In fact, I have no answers. All I can do is pray, asking God to reveal to me and to all of us how to truly love one another as He loves us.

In these turbulent days, pray my friends. Pray for the spirit of the living God to fall afresh on each of us. It’s time to begin the healing process.

Change - Be The Light @DDuPreeWilliams #writing #faithinaction Share on X

Holy Spirit, spread like fire at Pentecost across this great land of ours. Heal us. Turn our hearts to Father God. Forgive us, we beseech Thee. In the name of Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.