Heartbroken…

This is how people need to protest injustice, not with looting, destruction of property, or brutally injuring others.

“But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly You set them in slippery places; You make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when You rouse Yourself, You despise them as phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward You. Nevertheless, I am continually with You; You hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward You will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from You shall perish; You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to You. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭73:16-28‬ ‭ESV‬‬

If you are anything like me, you may have watched the news this past week and wondered what in the h, e, double toothpicks is going on?! Rioting and looting of businesses, burning down police precincts, people attacking someone because he is wearing a red baseball cap, a woman being beaten by 4 men while trying to protect a business from being looted, and a man attacked and mercilessly beaten because he was trying to defend the American flag! This is more like a third world socialist country and not like the America that I was born and raised in! I thought people were protesting against racism and injustice? Yet they gang beat a man for wearing a red hat, assuming that he is a Trump supporter?! Isn’t that discrimination? Isn’t that what we are supposedly fighting against? We are supposed to be fighting for our freedom of speech, our freedom to believe what we want, support who we want, and live how we want? If you are attacking someone because they do not believe what you believe and claim that you are out there protesting against discrimination, you are a hypocrite!

I am heartbroken over the current state of our country and I’m angry that people are not taking a stand against these injustices, attacks, looters, and arsonists. So many people are outraged against the police officer who killed George Floyd and the 3 other officers who did nothing to stop him, but what about the people who just watched and shouted things from the sidelines? Why didn’t one of them go up to that cop and try to push him off of George or confront him and the other officers? Yes, they probably would have been arrested, but they may have saved George’s life.

Trying to understand all of this evil and these horrendously horrible things is a wearisome task, as Asaph says in Psalm 73. After watching the news tonight, the Lord led me to this Psalm and it comforted me knowing that eventually, if these people who are destroying businesses, beating others, attacking police officers, and burning churches, do not repent and turn to God, they are going to be destroyed in a moment as God’s Word says in verse 19. They are going to be swept away utterly by terrors! They may never be caught here on earth, but God sees and He knows what they are doing. And He is the ultimate justice bringer! So although “my flesh and my heart fail, God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (verse 26)

I do not want these people to perish, but desire for them to turn from their wicked ways and come to Jesus Christ. I want them to repent and be reconciled to God, but if they do not, the punishment they will receive once they die, is far worse than any punishment they could ever receive here on earth.

So although I am angry, frustrated, and heartbroken at what is happening all around this country, I rest in God’s sovereignty and in His justice, that will prevail. I remember that this is not my home, Heaven is. And I pray for the Lord to wake people up and reveal to them that violence is not the answer and will never change things for the better. Violence breeds more violence! If you want to protest injustice, racism, the death of George Floyd, police brutality, or whatever cause you are passionate about, please remember great leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., who protested in a peaceful way and changed history by doing so.

I’m praying for our country, for our leaders, for our police officers, for business owners who have had their livelihoods destroyed, for those who have been brutally attacked by rioters, and for love to abound, not hate. And I am remembering Psalm 73:25-26 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”