Nearly every day we hear about another mass shooting, violence in our streets, claims of police brutality. I’ve thought to myself, “Lord, is this our new normal?” Then this past Thursday evening a news alert caught my attention. The latest incident was happening in Dallas, in my own backyard. I saw hundreds of people scrambling for safety as our own Dallas police ran toward the gunfire and into harm’s way. The next day I learned two of the slain officers were related to friends of mine. July 7 would be the deadliest day for police officers in our country since September 11, 2001. The violence seen in other parts of the country was now personal.
As a pro-life activist and ministry leader I value every human life from conception throughout a person’s life span. I care deeply about loss of every life, especially those taken through acts of violence. The recent incidents grieve my soul and I cry just thinking about all the families who have lost loved ones. A city is shaken. Families are mourning.
Every day good Samaritans stand in the gap saving a stranger from an accident. Parents stand in the gap in prayer over their children who have gone astray. As a believer I pray in intercession for protection for those in authority and for those who need a relationship with God.
None of us are any better than another for we are all created equal in the image of God and all deeply loved by God. As I see it, the violence witnessed is not a black, white, or blue problem … it’s a heart problem, and the solution is a change in a person’s heart from evil to good through the power of a relationship with Jesus Christ. Wounded people wound others. That’s what we’re seeing. But look into the eyes of someone who has met Jesus and turned their lives over to His care lock, stock, and barrel, and you will see a changed heart and a changed life. You and I can stand in the gap for every person who crosses our paths.
Lord, let me be the example I want to see in this world. Do I hear an Amen?
James 5:16 “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
Tagged: grief and loss, prayer
