Articles
Pray For The Protests
While many of us sat in church buildings across the nation Sunday, there were violent protests taking place in DC and other places. If you saw any of the news, there were vulgar signs carried, hate speech spewed, attacks, injuries, and general disorder resulting in vehicles, businesses, and property being vandalized, all in the name of being right. Yes, I think I said that correctly, these people behaving this way believe it's the right thing to do to promote their agendas that they also think are right.
Now, there were likewise some peaceful protests too, peaceful to the extent that nobody was hurt and vandalism was controlled, but still, vulgarities screamed and arrests made.
It is easy for us to see the extreme divide in our country. But who is right? Which side, if any, do we take?
Trying not to be political, but simply observing what the news shows, many of these people don't even know for sure why they are protesting, except they are against the other side. That's about the extent that many can answer the question(s) when asked. They are for some "things" and against other "things". Occasionally a reporter will grab somebody that is clueless as to why they are there, and as we saw Sunday, even the reporters are being attacked now, simply for being there doing their jobs.
When the smoke clears and reality sets in, one thing we know for sure, regardless of which side if any that we take, we know God is righteous. We know if we are following Him and pursuing His agenda, that we are right. We know He has a plan for mankind and it doesn't include behavior like we saw this weekend. Our God is an awesome, righteous, loving God, and if we follow His will we won't be on the streets participating in this type of activity. We will be showing restraint, compassion, kindness, and demonstrating our love for our fellow man.
While we can't stop the demonstrations nor probably change the mindset of those who participate, we can play a role. As we have said many times in this space, God wants us to pray. If we are His righteous people (not in and of ourselves, but righteous because of Him), then He listens to our prayers, and they are "powerful and effective" (James 5:16). God does have the power to change the hearts and attitudes of mankind, and He can bring this civil unrest to an end. God can!
