Ceasefire; Finding Peace In The Midst Of The War

Lately, my heart has been heavy. And I think that if you have heard anything that is going on in the world right now, your heart may be heavy too. Today I want to talk about how I feel. Every now and then I am going to write a post that is just my raw, real, unfiltered emotions. And this is one of those posts. 

I don't know what to do with the information that is being thrown at me. I see endless Facebook articles and posts outlining people's opinions on shootings in the U.S.A, police brutality, huge massacres in France, abortion, homosexuality, ISIS, Donald Trump, and that is just to name a few. And frankly, I am overwhelmed. I can't even begin to understand the complexity of all of these issues, and I definitely am no expert in any of these subjects. I am actually not an expert in any subject. 

I feel my heart growing weary, tired, and calloused. When I hear terrible, horrific news, my automatic reaction is to feel grief and then hopelessness. And then, sometimes, guilt. I feel guilty that I'm "not doing anything" to help. But since I have no idea what I could possibly do to help, I shove my feelings down and move on with my day. 

This only works for so long. Eventually, it all bubbles to the surface, and you get to where I am; Overwhelmed. I broke down in tears last night because I heard a song called "Ceasefire" by for KING and COUNTRY. And the song itself is pretty incredible; but it was the title that got me: 

Ceasefire.

Yes. Can we please just call for a ceasefire!? We are all hurting. We are all overwhelmed and confused and just trying so hard to do what we think we should based on our limited knowledge and convictions. None of us has this life figured out. But I know that we can not do this alone. We can not do this divided. Obviously, we are getting nowhere with our endless rants of opinion and taking sides. Please, can we just throw up the white flag? Both sides are wounded and bleeding and nobody wins when our goal is to settle the score. 

Now, I don't completely know how to deal with these feelings. I am still in the midst of it; But I know that God is trying to show me how. I know that He is telling me not to fear. And I am sure He wants you to know the same thing; Do not fear. I know this can be hard to fathom, but in the midst of the insanity and brutality, God is still in control. He has never and will never not be in control. God knows exactly what is going on and knows exactly what has happened and what has yet to happen. And despite that, he tells us, in the Bible, to live our lives with joy, peace, and NOT fear. 

I don't think this means that we should ignore and not care about what is going on around us. But if God is telling us to live in peace in the midst of the war, then he will show us how. He has to. He never asks us to do something that He will not equip us to do. 

So, this is my only advice: 

1. In the midst of the war, do not forfeit your peace. 

2. Let's call for a ceasefire.