Out Of Hiding

My heart has been overwhelmed lately by many recent world events. Through it all, I know He's been leading and teaching me. I have found my emotions in much upheaval. I have sat angered and shed too many tears either through prayer or venting my frustrations. I often wondered "is anyone seeing what I am seeing?" I have heard people refer to the recent events as "historic" yet people refuse to admit that Syria and Kurdistan's current socio-economic/political states are also historic. I am gently reminded of Rwanda and me being too young to recall what really occurred. If it wasnt my age difference, I can assure you,it was  North-America's best way of concealing or protecting  the populations. Or maybe,just maybe it was the world's way of coping by turning a blind-eye to the wars.

While I have read and listened to varying perspectives of different events,I am in no way claiming to be an expert connoisseur in world events,ancient civilizations and more.I have however,seen people's lives crumble and hatred being fueled in people's hearts towards  a type or people group. The question remains; what promotes/attributes to someone wanting to murder another or commit homicides? The question in and of itself is not simplistic like I thought it would be initially. Rather, it is veined in multiple ways. There are multiple causations and correlations that could be panned out from different sources.

My purpose is not to list  and expand on all of the reasons why people go on murder sprees but to focus on what the Lord's been revealing in my own life through these events. With that said, I have to submit that I have had a two year background in a psychiatric setting and we often underplay the reality of the large scores of people diagnosed,misdiagnosed or not at all with having some psychiatric illness. In this little platform I do have, I want any of you out there to not be afraid to make the first step in seeking some help. Sometimes life takes us in winding paths or maybe we willfully do so and end up with heartbreaks or otherwise and it may require an extensive road of talk therapy for example. (I'll link below what that means).  I was once told that no matter who we are,at the end of the day,we all need help. I guarantee you that you feeling safe on the inside (emotionally)/ affectively as well as in your thought spaces /cognitively as well as on the outside (physically) is worth more than holding all the resentment on the inside or self-destructing. You are truly worth it.We are worth it. Maybe, that's what a bunch of us fail to see. Are we so blinded that we don't see the sanctity in human life anymore?                  

 In as much as  I have been disturbed and enraged with all the lives lost and suffering in the U.S.,Munich,Ansbach,France,Syria,Kurdistan,Venezuela and heard too little about the perpetrators; God still spoke. He spoke softly and openly asking me if I knew He loved the perpetrators in the same way He loved me. God wrecked me right then where I thought I had enough of the world. I always sung from a four year old growing up in Sunday school that  " Jesus loved me,this I know" but could it be quite possible for the same Jesus to love the murderer with unresolved angst or misguided by cults or other religious groups? Could it possible for this Jesus to love the thief on a cross  next to Him and me who beckons at His call to worship Him day and night? Walls I built up for myself came tumbling as I thought of this. In my own heart, I held myself on a pedestal thinking I was better than these perpetrators. I don't give a pass on these absurd acts committed on us all, mankind and neither am I condoning that Jesus has no beef with their sin. He says clearly in the Word ( Isaiah 6:3), (Revelation 6:8),and (Psalm 5:4) how he feels about sin.

 The scripture "Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light."-Matthew 6:22 has been brought to the forefront of my mind by the Lord with all the chaos around us. I know that if He claims to love these perpetrators or the middle man who smirks after a snide remark against a people group; He surely wants to reach all people with His love. While God is omnipotent and chooses to grace us with His splendour in a dim room at home, He is sovereign and cares about the intentions of our hearts. If we aren't committed to falling in love with Him,we might as well forget about assisting Him in reaching anyone else. If we're darkened on the inside by the surrounding events or from complacency and fear,how can we be this light He speaks of?

What good is it to have a glimmer inside of you that isnt tangible or represented on the outside/in our lives?Maybe it means that for some of us, putting down that television remote-control or phone might help our inward skepticism,rage,denial,paranoia and more. Maybe for others, we need to ask God what are our litmus tests, how can we know what is light and what is darkness? Or simply,maybe some of us need to know how to walk in a lifestyle that reflects that light. Perhaps shuddering at the thought of a refugee may only darken or harden our hearts?

Lastly, I want to put forward the best foot I do have while I have it. I want to be able to pray scarier prayers that have people's heads physically spinning at the love of God wherever they are. I decided yesterday to not only pray into these global situations but to share about what we can all do for the world. It means less hiding. For me and you. The earth groans but God still remains good. His nature is not determined by us. We can argue with God kicking and screaming all the while but God remains who He says He is. He is love and He is good.

Dig deeper: 

(Romans 6:22-23)

"For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children,[a] including the new bodies he has promised us.24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope[b] for it." (NLT)

Talk therapy:

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/t/talking-therapies

Currently listening to:

"Take Courage+ Spontaneous Worship ft.Kristene Dimarco"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30SxWuKU_rU

Photocredits: Stephen K Bedase Photography

In grace,

Kesara
xoxo