Every Life has Infinite Value / Justice

As so many of you, my heart has felt incredibly heavy and grieved over the pain our world is sitting in right now. Our African American friends are hurting deeply (and have been for many years) from racial injustice. So many are suffering from the effects of the pandemic. Cities need to recover from rioting and looting. Only Jesus can make the wrong things right again. He doesn’t only execute justice; He IS justice. Justice is the restoration of everything that would attempt to violate or hinder love. It’s what Jesus paid for on the cross and He is more than able to take the weight of every heavy burden you’ve been carrying.  I have had some hard, but healing conversations with some of my beautiful black friends and young adults in my life this past week. Recently I heard a pastor say that we need to learn to sit and listen before we take our place and “stand with”. Sometimes we’re hesitant to approach topics like racism for fear that we’ll say the wrong thing, adding further pain to an already deep injury. But for many of our African American friends, silence can be very painful and feel like apathy. I want to encourage you that you don’t have to say everything perfectly. In fact, the best thing you can do is simply listen and offer empathy right now.  Nehemiah wept over Jerusalem. He was fully invested in seeing the wall rebuilt around it to protect the people from enemy attack. If we want to see real healing happen in our communities, we need to invite God to close the distance between our own discomfort and the pain our black brothers and sisters are feeling. We sometimes dismiss others’ pain because we haven’t experienced it ourselves. It can also cause us to look at our own hearts and the blind spots we may have. Let me encourage you that this is a great opportunity to allow God to highlight those areas and bring truth. Taking a posture of humility, laying our defenses down, leaning in and listening to the cries of others is the doorway to the healing Jesus wants to pour out on the earth right now.

"If others are weeping, join with them. Work toward unity and live in harmony with one another. Avoid thinking you are better than others or wiser than the rest." - Romans 12:15 - 16 -

To our African American friends: We are sorry for the ways we haven’t used our voices enough to speak up against the injustices you experience. We are sorry you’ve had to defend yourself and expend so much emotional energy trying to convince others that racism is still such a prevalent problem. We are sorry your pain has often been dismissed and overlooked. We are sorry for the ways you haven’t felt fully seen or known.  Jesus, we ask that your love would cover every heart. We pray that you would bring healing like only you can. We pray for the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and the many others who suffered injustice before them. Show us how we can be part of the solution that will bring lasting change. We pray that EVERY person on the earth would not be given anything less than the infinite value you’ve placed on them.  To quote Lisa Meyer-Jones, “IT’S TIME!” Love, Karena