This scripture kept ringing in my ears one night a few weeks ago.
God’s righteous purpose and human anger don’t go hand in hand. Human anger cannot be used as a legitimate tool to bring about His purposes.
I rarely, if ever, speak out about a lot that is happening in this world. I try to take my thoughts to the Lord first and stay in my lane with my focus on what He has called me to do.
But as I sat at my desk a few weeks ago, I was overcome with grief and the tears just began to fall. I began thinking about my black father, my black brothers, my black nephews, my black brother in laws, my black male cousins, my black uncles, my black male friends and my race as a whole and I just wept. I wept for them, but also for the mothers, fathers and family of those (Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, LaQuan McDonald, Tamir Rice, Ahmaud Arbery, Alton Sterling, George Floyd and so many others) whose wounds may have been ripped open once again, thinking about their own children who have lost their lives to this, as they see yet another black man being killed.
I often say that as a believer in Christ, my first allegiance is to Christ, and therefore my thinking should be that of the Kingdom of God. Everything else is secondary. And it is, whether people want to hear it or not. But I can’t disconnect from the fact that the Lord, who chose me before the foundations of this world, chose to make me a black woman for a reason.
It was purposeful.
It was intentional and I cannot deny that.
As human beings, we have a right to be angry. As a race, we have a right to be angry. As a nation we have a right to be angry. As believers in Jesus Christ, we have a right to be angry, and frankly we should.
However, we also need to check our hearts and ask ourselves, “Why are we angry?” Are we angry for the reasons that God is? Because if not, we will use our human anger as a tool that won’t bring about God’s righteous purposes. Instead, it will produce what we are seeing all over this world with violence, rioting and senseless, horrific killings like that of #GeorgeFloyd and so many others.
What good is anger if it is misdirected? What is the purpose of anger if it isn’t directed well, i.e. toward God’s purposes?
The human heart is wicked, deceitfully wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). That includes my heart and that includes your heart. Only God knows it. We can’t and we won’t accomplish much if Christ isn’t at the forefront of the much needed change against injustice that needs to happen in this country and the world.
We can hope for progress and something to be done as much as we want. But at the end of the day, as Benjamin Watson said when all the stuff was happening in Baltimore a few years ago after Freddie Gray’s death, along with Ferguson and countless other black lives that were taken, it’s a sin issue. Let’s not forget that.
We can only go so far without Christ. We can only go so far as a people (Black, White, Asian, Latino, etc) without Christ, and that is the biggest piece many are missing. We can do nothing apart from Him. There’s no sense or point in doing anything to fight injustice if we leave Jesus out of the equation.
I pray the body of Christ, who should be leading the charge against racism, and all those who are fighting for justice no matter your color, truly grasp this truth. We cannot leave Jesus out.
So Sis, be angry, but don’t sin. Let your anger be directed in a way that produces the righteousness of God and brings about His purposes. And in case you forgot, that’s to do what He requires of us:
to do what is right, to love mercy and to walk humbly with [our] God
Micah 6:8, NLT
Genesis 2:22, NLT
Scripture references: The Holy Bible (NLT, TPT)
Sign up here and never miss a post!
Grab my free 5 day devotional!
Photo credit: canva.com
Please like, share and comment.
LET’S STAY CONNECTED:
Lady In Waiting 222 