If I was a black woman, I might be hard-pressed to keep my cool about white people who seem to abuse their authority and do not appear to answer for their actions in recent days.

Even as a white woman, I have to wonder at times about people. But regardless of my color, I have to decide for myself how to respond to the things going on in our country today. First and foremost I am a follower of Jesus, and I have to  form my response to the happenings in this world in a manner that considers that relationship first. When everything else fades, it is Christ that remains.

Our enemy wants white Americans to fear black Americans. And our enemy wants black Americans to hate white Americans and white authority. Fear always leads to bad decisions, and hate always leads to violence. Both fear and hate will cloud good judgement.  

I think it must be so hard to be a peace officer these days. We have to remember that for the most part, they do not deal with the upright people in society. They don’t have daily dealings with law abiding citizens like you or me. Their daily dealings are with people who live apart from the law. These are often the poor or marginalized people who have, for whatever reason, been unable to rise above their circumstances, have not always made good choices, nor taken responsibility for their lives. So many of our police officers have a skewed view of humanity that is full of distrust and suspicion because of what they see and deal with on a daily basis. You and I make great armchair quarterbacks, but we are not walking their beat.

BUT… I can remember officers who worked in the inner city and really knew the people there and cared for them. They might even have had to arrest those people from time to time, but they knew their names and they cared about them and their families. Now they fear the very people they are called to serve.

Fear always comes from our enemy.

HOWEVER… More than ever our officers must be able to stand up under greater and greater pressures. As the world continues to spin out of control, they must be able to remain in control. God bless them. They must be men and women of high integrity, and they have to love the people they serve. You don’t shoot people you love… at least until they give you no other choice.

YET…We have a serious problem with authority in this country. Children are no longer raised to respect it in their lives. We fail to teach our kids that sitting under authority blesses them. When we willfully disregard authority, we step out from under it’s protection and it’s anything goes. We must find some way of getting things back in order. Where those in authority are not abusive of it and those sitting under it appreciate it in their lives. 

Today, Americans are getting a good look at what a Godless society looks like. “They” asked for it, so that’s what “they” got. They didn’t want to be hindered by the guardrails set in place by scripture. They wanted to roam freely and taste in plenty what this world has to offer. Okay, then, this is it. How’s it tasting now?

The worst thing we can do in this country is to allow ourselves to be swept away in an emotional firestorm that is orchestrated and paraded in front of us 24/7. We must stand up under the scripture that tells us that it is by faith, not our eyes, that we see. We are called to love people, all people, and hate our enemy. We must hate Satan, not each other, or he wins this racial thing and other things, too. He will own our society if we fail to find a way to love each other.

STILL… we serve an amazing God. We only have to look at Chronicles 7:14 to find our solution.

“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.”

I see lots of believers posting this verse in hopes that our country will take heed. But let’s look at it closely. That first part? The “if my people” part? That’s us. That’s not everyone. That’s only to those who are called by His name. If those of us who are called by God’s name will do four things:

1. Humble ourselves. (Sounds easy, but it’s not. We are a prideful lot.)
2. Pray (When was the last time we really spent time in serious prayer about this?)
3. Seek His face. (This becomes all about Him and nothing about us.)
4. Turn from our wicked ways. (That’s us, not them. Turn that finger upon yourself.)

THEN... He will hear us. But only after we do what we are supposed to do. Not before. And then… He will heal our land. With a swipe of His hand, all those things we have mucked up, even the things that those who are not called by His name have mucked up, will be made right again. The power is within us to fix this. Are we willing to do it?

SO… Let’s not allow our enemy to win. Let’s fight the right battle. Together. We do not struggle against flesh and blood but against principalities.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12

This is a war going on that we cannot see with our eyes, but is more real than the acts we do see. That’s our battle. That’s where we need to fight. People want to take the battle to the streets, but we fight this one on our knees. It’s the only way we will ever win. And it all starts with a little bit of humility from the people of God.