I have a confession to make. I have not read one article or watched one news report about the recent Dallas shootings. I saw enough on Instagram (the only social media I scroll consistently) and talked to enough people to know what I need to know. These incidents are becoming more and more common. If my mom was alive today she would say as she said a thousand times before, “Honey, we are in the last days.” I always shrugged my shoulders in disbelief and thought she was crazy. Maybe she was…but maybe not.
I was riding my bike the other day thinking about a lot of hard stuff. Usually my bike rides are the times when I feel the most peace and clear my head. But as I pedaled I had a daydream that a horrific act of violence happened in my own hometown. I imagined how my community would react. I wondered who would reach out and help. I wondered if push came to shove if I would offer help or hide in my apartment out of fear. No more bike rides. No more freedom. Evil wins.
I don’t want to live in fear. I have had an unexplainable calling in my heart for a good while now to share my story of faith and be a vessel for hope. I don’t want to let God down. I want to do more, not less. I don’t want to just do what Jesus would do; I want to be what Jesus would be. My untransformed, self-righteous, miserable old me would cling to fear and hide away with the blinds shut during catastrophe. I gave up easily back then. I never opened my Bible. I never went to church. I never tried to be there for anyone other than myself because I was always so wrapped up in my own feelings to worry about anyone else. I wallowed in self-pity and regret. I was afraid of everything a lot of the time. Sometimes I still am. I am learning it is a process. It is about letting go of self and becoming selfless.
Let’s learn to be like Jesus would be. If we can do that…His light will shine through us to others stuck in the dark. That is what this world needs. More light. When light disrupts the darkness, Love wins.
Blessings,
Stacey ~ iamalive