Take Refuge in Love

There is no doubt that we are living in a world plagued with unspeakable hate. There are many other words that come to mind but at this very moment “hate” sums up the atmosphere. The self hate, racial hate, gender hate, political hate, and international hate is suffocating. I’ve been watching too much CNN, I admit. My timeline has been plagued with all things “Mike Brown” … #Ferguson #HandsUpDontShoot #NotOneDime #DieIN … and all I want to do is #Breathe. I seriously felt myself giving up last week. I was emotionless. I didn’t feel good or bad. I felt nothing and it scared me a bit. As usual, when I get in my mood, I take time to be alone with God. I didn’t ask a thing. I didn’t have any questions. I simply needed God to deal with my empty emotions and make sense of it.

The only thing that kept coming to mind was “Love.” I had images of love replay over and over again from the past week. It started with my experience watching R&B singer Chrisette Michele perform while gazing into the eyes of her guitar player/boyfriend almost completely distracted from the crowd of eyes watching her every move. The love was infectious. Then I thought about all the love I was surrounded by during the Thanksgiving holiday. Whether it was blood family or family closer than blood, I was in complete bliss just being in their presence, laughing, joking, and getting caught up on all the happenings in their lives. Love was definitely in the air. And then I got lost in that feeling of blossoming love. The butterflies, the silly grins, the “hold the phone even when you’ve run out of things to say” type. I instantly took a deep breath.

God answered me even when I didn’t know what to ask. I guess my unspoken question was, “What’s the remedy for hate?” His answer… LOVE. But what does that love have to do with the hate of the world? Nothing and everything. Here’s what I heard: Love and hate don’t reside with one another. In order to know love you must escape hate. God is that escape. The issues of the world remain and many will say that escaping is not the solution. I would disagree. God is the only solution. He restores, reignites, and reveals to us things we can’t see in the natural. If we only relied on what the natural eye could see we would be defeated every day of our lives.

I wanted God to address my feelings about the hate of the world and all he wanted me to do was focus on the love in my life. In other words, he wanted me to take my eyes off of the seemingly insurmountable problems of the world and focus on Him. It’s only in love where we can hear His voice clear and make wise decisions. He gives us instructions on how to fight but we can’t be consumed with hate. God doesn’t reside there. So let me encourage you as I encourage myself to not let the hate of the world harden you. God wants us to escape in him when we get weary and are too beat up to see clearly. He’s our refuge and since God is love, “love” is our refuge too. Rest in that love today so that you can continue the fight.

Happy Tuesday loves.