There’s something ironic about this pandemic we are in. The social isolation people are now experiencing is an exceedingly small fraction of the isolation black people walk through every single day. We shelter in place mentally and physically. Each day we feel isolated by our experiences. We hurt, we are castigated, we are not being heard but are told to be silent by the forces that continue to take us out of this world.
Yesterday my son and I were in the kitchen having a conversation when, in my suburban home, an unfamiliar sound pierced through the walls of my brick house. We looked at each other wondering if the kids were up from their naps but quickly realized the sound was coming from outside. A white man was in an altercation with our white female neighbor which resulted in the police being called. From our vantage point standing in my front yard, we witnessed a cop PEACEFULLY talking to my neighbor. No arrests or deaths, just cordial conversation, and a parting of ways. My neighbors were kept alive and last night they slept well with their families. After viewing the exchange between the police and my neighbors, I ushered my adult black children back into my home, not wanting to give anyone a reason to accuse us of a crime that could ultimately result in our lives being taken. This may sound rather dramatic, but it is our sad reality. I’m sick of it, tired of it and repulsed by it!
Police brutality and militarized tactics resulting in the murder of people of color goes unpunished. Only God will vindicate us. The system has failed us time after time. When Black lives are systemically devalued by society, our outrage justifiably insists that attention be focused on Black lives.
Our faith’s teachings tell us that each person is created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) which means we have value and worth. Juxtaposing this with our current client, I must ask, “do black lives really matter?” This is an obvious truth based on scripture, but this has not been the experience for many black people. It has us crying out to God even more, with pounding hearts and uncontrollable tears. We’re left wondering, like his Son on the cross, “My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me?”
Jesus felt forsaken in that moment of anguishing pain. He did no wrong against the ones who crucified him. He cried out for help from His daddy, just as we are crying out for justice for our murdered brothers and sisters!
Jesus models for us how God loves justly and how his disciples can love publicly in a world of inequality. I’m choosing to love those who hate me and my black brothers and sisters. I’m angry, I’m hurt, and I’m broken.
My God, my God, please vindicate us.
18 thoughts on “When Will We Matter?”
Though you spoke powerful words of truth we must remember God didn’t forsake Jesus and he hasn’t forsaken the black race. God has a plan. Just as he did when Jesus was crucified. Though painful while we vote and fight for our rights. Remember in the end if we keep the Faith we WIN
He calls us righteous and as enraged as these injustices can make us, we can focus on not allowing the situation to overshadow what God can do to turn it around.
You so eloquently captured our pain, frustration, and hope!
Very well said!
Thanks for sharing. I feel your pain my sister. But as you state here and the word says, God will vindicate us. Remain hopeful.
Beautifully said I totally agree with every word.
& to hear about white people being treated differently is upsetting but to see it and then look on the news and see a different color and a different out come is heartbreaking.
This is an American problem.
I trust God has a plan for all this.
A wonderful story. Many people of color are having such a hard time. It seams like the 1950’s are making its way back. We know GOD will not allow anything without HIS approval. We will suffer some but just know werr only traveler’s here.
While painstakingly true, when it is all said and done, Gods justice shall prevail.
Thanks for sharing your honest truth and thoughts with us!
Over time, we have truly suffered many injustices, and harsh and evil treatment. But, we continue to be forgiving and are survivors despite all of the disdain that some have for us. As you put it so well, Jesus (the precious Lamb of God) did no wrong but yet he took a horrific beat down and was put to death because of envy and hatred by people who had no real valid reason to do so. But God had a greater plan for us because of Jesus. In our humaness, we don’t understand why our people were chosen to suffer so much and die so senselessly as we have experienced in the past and in recent years. But, yet we must continually trust in the Lord through it all. My prayer is that one day, we will truly, truly understand it (all) better “by and by!”
Amen!! This is perfectly written… Thank you for sharing this!!! It is really sad that we live this way…
I approve this message!!!❤️
Beautifully stated! But, remember Revelation 1:14-15 offers a clue that Jesus’s skin was a darker hue and that his hair was woolly in texture. The hairs of his head, it says, “were white as white wool, white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace.” We see what they did to Him.
The Children of Israel were slaves of the Egyptians. Before they began to mix with the invading European nations, they, too, were dark-skinned. We read about how they were treated and what was done to them.
And, we not only read about it today, we live amongst it. There is nothing new under the sun.
But, Jesus said, “I am the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega. In Amos 9:7, He says, “Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
Then, He says in Romans 12:19, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay,.” Isaiah 63:4, “ the time has come for me to avenge my people, to ransom them from their oppressors.
It’s ALL in the Hands of God and in His timing. His thoughts are not like our thoughts, neither are His ways like our ways. But, He will avenge His people!
When will it matter? It matters now; the evils and injustices of this world has always mattered with God. The Bible makes it plain that God did not create the world in the state in which it is now. Evil came as a result of the selfishness of man. And, so, because lawlessness has increased, the love of many has waxed COLD.
Yes, evil is here; and, it is real. But, it is also temporary. It will eventually be destroyed. There is a new world coming in which there will be no more tears and pain because all things will be made new (Revelation 21:5). Paradise lost will be paradise regained. God will right every wrong and put away evil once and for all, in His time.
Wow!! I love how you were able to verbalize and express what so many of us have been feeling. The images that have been going viral truly make your heart hurt and it really feels like there has been too much too often. I see lots of us protesting but I think we all definitely need to be praying too
As I read this entry today, I have to remind myself, that nothing just happens. Yes, we have an enemy that is at work, but God has to have an alternate plan for all that is happening in this world right now. Keep in mind, we live in a fallen world where the God of this world is satan. He works over time to try and and make us think that God has forgotten us. Just hold on a little while longer. Our father will answer us and bring sense to every situation we are witnessing.
This is so painfully to the point. As a non -black, is that pc, I wonder what I can do. I know I have raised my children to never judge or discriminate, and see evidence of it in their daily lives. But what can I do now? I know that the Lord will prevail and so I pray no more families will have to suffer this. Thank you for your eloquent words so clearly citing the struggles.
Thank you for sharing these heartfelt truths and at the same time reminding us know matter what it looks like nor how we feel about it, we have to keep praying and believing that God will prevail.
I appreciate transparency. The injustice is real. Its duration is overwhelmingly burdensome. But God, who is rich in mercy will cause to endure. He is still God and as stated, He calls us to love. Love covers a multitude of sin. I agree with you in prayer and await a breaking down of strongholds.
Very well said! Thank you for sharing!
Love is the best gift given to mankind!
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