Your heart is broken this week.
Your city burned this week.
You feel betrayed, scared, and hopeless this week.
Go ahead and feel the hurt. It feels like too much because it is. The world is broken, and my heart is heavy.
Am I surprised? No. My Bible tells me in this world we will have troubles. It is to be expected. In this world we will have pain. We all feel the pain right now.
We feel it because our friends are hurting.
We feel it because we have to explain evil things to our children that we should never have to explain.
We feel it because we want to fix it and we can’t.
We want to say something to make it better, but we can’t.
We want to take the pain away, but we can’t.
So go ahead and feel the hard. Let it sink in and muddy the waters of your soul so that you are stirred up.
Maybe we let things settle down for too long. Maybe we pushed it down deep so it would feel ok, and we wouldn’t have to feel the hard. Maybe we needed the waters dredged up so we can’t ignore it.
Look your enemy in the face. No, not the person you think is your enemy. Not the one you disagree with or the one who hurt you. Not the one whose actions you don’t like.
He’s not your enemy.
She’s not your enemy.
We have only one enemy. The enemy has been dividing us for generation after generation after generation. The enemy has pit brother against brother. The enemy has caused pain, and sickness, and heartache, and worldwide pandemics, and murder, and hate.
The only enemy is sin. It’s the sin in my heart. It’s being born in ignorance and needing redemption because I can’t make it better by myself. None of us can.
“This is my commandment that you love one another that your joy may be full.”
Love one another, as Christ has loved us and given Himself up for us. Each of us. All of us. He is not willing that anyone should perish. He has come that we might have life and live it in the fullest.
Want joy? Love.
Want peace? Love.
Want healing? Love.
Love the Savior who laid down His life for us. Love the people He created and died for. All people.
This is our only hope. He is our only hope.
I’m a writer with a lifelong passion for learning. I’ve spent the last 24 years momming, teaching my 3 almost-grown-and-flown children, and working with my husband of 26 years. I’m loving country life (being a pretend farmer) just outside my hometown of Richmond, VA. Here is where I’ll spill my guts on the things of the heart we all share: faith, life, love, family, and anything else that tumbles through my mind.