My Bible Blog

Who Is Going to do It?

At this point, I have almost entirely stopped watching the news. It can feel like "all news is bad news." Now, keep in mind, I am fortunate enough to sit on my high horse and watch the news of the bad things happening in the world. I have the ability to turn off the horror on my screen while for many people, it is their reality. 

However, the despair of the world easily seeps in, no matter how hard I try to block it out. It can be very depressing, and I often find myself struggling to cope. Honestly, I feel that I have had a very easy life, and I am sorry to go on here and talk about my experiences when they compare so poorly to the suffering of others. Despite this, there is a point that I would like to make through all this rambling. First, though, a story. 

A few days ago, I headed out for a run. My body was aching for an outdoor run after being confined to the treadmill for so long during the winter. It was the nicest day in a long time, and nothing was going to stop me from running around my neighborhood. 

Well, at least I thought. As soon as I got out there, I noticed a police car parked on the road in front of my neighbor's house. There were no sirens, but the officer was speaking to my neighbors. I was a little hesitant to continue on my run, but I managed to convince myself that there was no danger. I live in a pretty decent community where there is not a lot of crime, so I assumed that the officer was there on account of something minor.

When I finished on my run, I was surprised to see that the police car was still there. He kept walking around to various houses, interviewing my neighbors. Heading inside, I tried not to rubberneck while keeping an eye out in case the officer came to my door. He did not, and he soon got back into his patrol car and drove off. I thought the whole thing was a bit odd, but I did not want to be nosy. 

Turns out, I am little nosy as I asked one of my neighbors about the police visit later that evening when I was walking my dog. "Ohhhh," he said, "you won't believe it."

I listened intently, in shock, as he told me that my neighbor who lives two houses down was robbed around noon that day. They believe that it was targeted as only one room of the house was ransacked. Even worse, I knew that the family was struggling to make ends meet. They had always been a great neighbor- stopping by to check on me when the carbon monoxide alarm in my house went off and praying for me when my family member was in the hospital. Out of all the people to be robbed, I did not, and still don't, understand why it had to be them. From what I could see, they seem like genuinely good people, yet their daughter's money that she was saving for college was part of what was stolen. They did not deserve it, but they suffered anyway.

That is just the way of the world, I know. It seems that the people who truly deserve the wealth and the recognition rarely get any of it. People do awful things to each other, and it can appear that nothing happens to them as a consequence. 

This is one of the times that I am so thankful for my faith in God. I can see how people can easily become consumed by the hatred and despair in this world, and sometimes I find myself in that same position. However, God teaches us that this earth is not the end of narrative. War does not have to be the end, a robbery does not have to be the end, and death is not the end. Not only are we promised eternal life in Jesus Christ, but we are also called to act now. 

We must not let the world become filled with hate. For every hateful action, we need to replace it with a loving reaction. "Two wrongs do not make a right," is often said, and it is true. It is so simple to become down yourself, to judge other people, or to make excuses as to why you cannot do something. I do it all of the time, but I know that if I want to see a change in this world, I need to do something. 

I cannot change a robber or a murder's mind. I cannot stop people from doing the evil things they do. That is up to God. But we still have a choice. Do we sit back and let our neighbors suffer? Or do we stand up? We need to speak out and try to treat the world better than it is currently treating us. Imagine the impact if everyone of us tried to do that. Our creator made us for this.

In this situation, I think about two people in the bible- Jesus and Hagar. 

Jesus is a pretty obvious choice. I mean, He died for sins that he did not even commit. His entire life was one of ridicule and shame, yet He remained faithful and loving. That is impressive, but as much as I love Jesus, I have a hard time resonating with Him on this. I know that I am not perfect like Jesus and that I never will be. So, what can we, normal people, do? 

That is why I would like to bring Hagar in here. It had been a few years since I had read Hagar's story in the bible, but I was recently reading this book and the author spoke about how much they are inspired by Hagar. 

(The book is called Wanderlost by Natalie Toon Patton. I highly recommend- she tells this story more elegantly than I ever could. Plus, she talks about her journey to Christ in it.)

Hagar was a slave, specifically a slave of Abraham and Sarah. (I am sure that you have heard this story before so I will make it brief.) Sarah always wanted a child, but she was unable to conceive. Desperate, Sarah tells Abraham, her husband, to have a baby with Hagar. Hagar, unlike Sarah, gets pregnant easily, but Sarah becomes extremely jealous of Hagar. She starts to yell at her and treat her so poorly that, one day, Hagar feels no choice but to run away to desert. 

God provided for Hagar and her son, Ishmael, for the rest of their lives. Hagar worked hard to please God, and Ishmael was abundantly blessed, being the son of Abraham. The thing about it is that Hagar never gave up. She never said, "I did not even want this child," or "I can't believe that I am forced to be a slave." No, despite how horrible Sarah and society had treated her, Hagar trusted in God. She made the choice not to turn bitter, and she tried to provide a better life than she had for her son.

Likewise, it is our choice if we want to join the complaining chaos of the world. It is up to us whether we want to create more problems or to resolve them. The hatred, discrimination, and unrest in the world today is disheartening, but have hope, we have the power to change it.

If not us, who else will? 

- - - 

"Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." -Martin Luther King Jr.

"Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." - 1 John 3:18

I heard the saying below, and it has always stuck with me, so I thought it was relevant to today's topic. 

"May your life preach louder than your words."

Peace be with you. Thank you for reading :)