For the Love of God

The last several days have been a bit unsettling here in Dallas. Most of my life I seemed to live in areas where violence was not evident at the magnitude we have seen here since last Thursday evening. My heart hurt deeply for the families of the officers and civilians that were ambushed by an unseen enemy. Then watching the news and hearing how angry people were at law enforcement and at each other, well, I just got angry. Seems that anger incites more anger. And I watched as the anger spread all over the country. I was so overwhelmed with emotion, in my mind I even thought "what's the use, we'll never see this change". 

In my unbalanced state, I went to church and the service opened with an intimate acoustic worship song. All attention was on the Lord and praising His name…and in moments, in the center of that worship song, I simply melted. I was consumed by the love that God has for me, for all people and for our country. He became so large in that moment. He is the answer to rage…the answer to hate…the answer to all of the tension. It is the LOVE of God.

The Bible has much to say about LOVE. Love God, love your neighbor; even love those that are not loving towards us. Love is what the world needs now. We need to ask God to help us learn how to fall in love with Him because that is the only way we will ever be able to see others as they were meant to be seen and truly love them.

We will move forward. We will find comfort in His spirit. And He will help us heal. But we can never forget that every one of us was created in the image of God.  There are no disclaimers. No outsiders. All lives matter.

May God continue to hold close those families of the Dallas officers, the young men in Minnesota and Baton Rouge, and the others that we might never hear about. And Lord, if you would, help us to see our brothers and sisters as YOU see them…children of promise and change agents for good. Help us as we search for the love of God. And let that love consume each one of us. We ARE family. Amen.