Our world is lamenting today for many reasons, but the one most vivid is the loss of George Floyd and how his life was drained out of him. I have not watched the videos, nor do I care to as I don’t need to see them to know that evil was at play. It is gut wrenching to see photos and hear of what has happened, and my deepest prayer is that justice will be served on his behalf, and God will bring peace to the hearts and minds of his family.
Lamenting is a natural response to loss. It is a way to express our sorrow and the brokenness we feel inside when we don’t know what else to do. Our emotions are overrun with grief and our hearts scream out without understanding the depths of sorrow we feel inside. It is okay to lament and grieve. God gave us the gift of lamenting.
We have a right to express our grief. We have a right to cry out and seek justice. We have a right to stand and demand that answers be given when such an injustice has been done. We have a right to protest and speak for those whose voices are wrongfully silenced. Yet, when we break out into riots and begin to destroy public and personal property of others, it’s no longer a right. Looting to benefit self only, without any remorse for the injustice that was done is not protesting, it’s theft. Setting businesses and public buildings on fire out of anger and hatred is not lamenting the injustice of this man, it’s committing arson. While I understand the grief that Mr. Floyd’s family (and families like his) feel, I will never understand the riots, although I do understand what they reveal.
Our nation is lost in the deepest, darkest crevices of sin and evil. It is sin in a man’s heart that causes him to be unwilling to move a knee to allow a man to breathe. It is deep-rooted sin that allows us to show injustice and racism toward one another. It is sin that causes us to become destructive and evil in our response.
As I viewed the photos of the National Guard standing in the gap to bring order into the cities, I was reminded of how Moses had to come back down from the mountain to bring order to the people of Israel, and how we as Christians are called to rise up like an army and stand in the gap for our nation. Racism is sin. Let us, as Christians, humble ourselves and come before the Lord on behalf of our nation. For God has promised in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”