May The Lord Direct Your Hearts

2 Thessalonians 3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ.

I have to admit that I have little in the way of patience for those who seek to elevate their "cause" on the backs of human tragedy. To me it cheapens the suffering of those lost and the families & friends left behind to mourn their. And what really irritates me is how pundits will jump to a conclusion even before the facts, as determined by a thorough investigation, are known.

In the wake of tragedy, often we are quick to ask the question of why did this happen?  And just as quickly pass judgment upon someone. There is a desire to quickly assign blame to someone. Our society just seems to need a scapegoat.  As in days of old after all the sins were laid upon a goat it was sent out into the wilderness or the goat was slaughtered as a sacrifice.  And so our world looks for someone to blame for all manner of evils that have been created over a long history. For example, when there is a shooting in the mall people are quick to condemn guns and their owners. Or they may chose to place blame on the violence of popular movies from Hollywood or the proliferation of violent video games as the reason. Seldom is there a willingness to accept that a failure to love our neighbor as we love ourselves is the real cause.  This last approach makes many uncomfortable.  It implies we as a person, a group of people, or a society have failed to look after one another.  We too often forget in our rush to pass judgment the very principles of Romans 14:10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. Blaming an inanimate object borders on ludicrous. It is only when we look within and ask what could we have done that truth can be revealed.  It is only when we accept that we are in fact our brother's keeper that real change can become possible. Until then, we heap judgment upon ourselves.  We forget to direct our hearts into the love of God. We lose patience rather that wrapping the patience of Christ around ourselves.

I do not seek to shift the blame from those who have committed the atrocities that fill our headlines. Nor am I offering excuses for their actions. Their actions will be judged by God himself.  But I do want us to begin to have the dialogue about what are we not doing to help a person who is in such a desperate need.  The root cause is not the weapons of choice. It rests in the failure to truly love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  If we fail to provide help, if we fail to care, we are without love. Where are our hearts directed? Are our hearts directed to pass judgment?  If the Lord is directing our hearts, then the answer is NO!  And until we align ourselves with the will of the Lord, we are missing the opportunity to do what the Lord desires.  Please, let us all take time to pray for the will of the Lord to be revealed to all of us. And then we can love as our Father loves and offer help with the patience of Christ.

PRAYER: Lord we are broken, and we live in a world that is broken. Too often we chose to judge those who act inappropriately. And all to often we fail to reach out. Or we fail to support those who can reach out. Forgive us for our weakness. Help us to change ourselves in a way only you can. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit that we would be the people You would have us to be, and not the people we are. We ask this in the name of Your Son, Jesus who healed those who were troubled. Amen.