Don’t Use Obstacles As Excuses, Overcome Them Through Righteous Actions

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘Then I <Isaiah> heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”’ (Isaiah 6:8)

Crime is still running rampant in the streets of the US, and indeed throughout the world.  There are many who try to provide reasons for the actions of the criminals; many state it is due to racial tensions, the lack of economic opportunities, or the change of the evolution of the American family unit, from a stay-at-home mother raising and teaching the children while the father is working, to more single mothers who are working with no father in their lives, and the children are without parental guidance or discipline.

I agree that these reasons, and many others, contribute to the lack of decorum, discipline, and order that our society current lacks.  But, unfortunately, these reasons are excuses not to change course.  All of us fall into the fact that it is easier to complain about a negative situation we are in, than to take the actions necessary to change the situation into a more positive one. 

Some efforts may seem to be too much; the parents who both work full-time believe they must do so, when it would be better for the mother or father to be home, at least to be there when the children come home from school and spend time with them.  Some refuse to leave the location they grew up in, even though other locations may provide greater job opportunities that need their skill sets or education.  For some, it is the stagnation in staying with the prejudices that they have, instead of being open to learning that others have the same needs and wants that they do, that we are all more similar than different.

Crime is a result of sin, the rejection of God’s principles for Satan’s guidelines, relying on his false promises of an easy life through the ‘easy way’.  The biggest reason for crime is a removal of Christian ethics and virtue from the public arena.  Those who commit the worst crimes, and those who often protest, are not espousing Christian virtues but sinful actions and values, opposite of God’s Word. 

Not all protests are evil; the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s was to change American society to allow and recognize equal opportunity for all races, and no race was ‘more equal’ than others.  Not all crimes done in the Civil Rights movement were done out of sin but to uphold God’s Word over unjust laws.  It is proper and Righteous to do so; God’s Word supersedes any laws that contradict His precepts.  However, we are also called to respect the laws of our government, and this should be a last-resort as we first should exercise change through our representatives amend the laws to be just.  Civil disobedience should be only when the government ignores the Righteous pleas of the People.

But most crime and protests are not Righteous but unrighteous.  The Christian can become Righteously angry, but we cannot also become unrighteously angry but work to resolve criminal activities through Righteous means.  Admittedly, my initial thought response upon seeing and hearing many of these crimes committed (some of those committed under the cover of being ‘protestors’ for some flavor of ‘social justice’) is the application of some kinetic feedback to the cranium of these protestors through the use of a Louisville Slugger.  This is a humanistic, unrighteous and wrong response. however. 

I then focus upon God’s Word, and think, ‘Did someone tell them of the Gospel before all this?  Did their parents receive an invite to come to church?’  To protect others in an immediate situation, perhaps to protect a family member, or even a stranger, it may be necessary at some point to use the Louisville Slugger (or other self-defense devices), but that is reactive and too late.  Now is the time to be proactive and give the Message to people.  Perhaps then the energy expended of lining up against each other as foes would be better spent lining up together in Godly unity.  The failure of the church yesterday to obey God, staying silent in weakness while secularism removed God from the public debate, brought us this chaos to its doorstep today. 

Isaiah was in a time similar to ours; the people had not heard nor did they seek God.  They despised God’s edicts, being greedy and hedonistic they wanted to do their own thing and ‘live it up’ in self-gratification.  Isaiah, though Righteous, considered himself unworthy to share the Word of the Lord. But God called upon Isaiah, and through a spiritual visit to Heaven showed Isaiah (through the act of the seraphim cleansing the lips of Isaiah through application of a hot coal to the lips of Isaiah) that God could make Isaiah worthy to share His word. 

We may not get to visit Heaven Spiritually in our physical lifetime, and get the hot coal treatment that Isaiah did.  But never think that the Lord cannot use you, because you have ‘done this, or you do that’, or are – whatever your excuse is.  The reasons not to are excuses.  The Lord can use you with all of your shortcomings and shortfalls, and will give you the abilities to overcome those shortcomings, perhaps even using them to strengthen His Word’s message to others. 

John F. Kennedy once stated, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”  God is asking the same question to Isaiah and He asks each of His children that now, “Are you willing to answer my calling?”  Isaiah’s response is what all of us should say in response, “Yes, send me!”  Share the Gospel with others – be proactive with His Word.  Our chaotic world needs us Christians to be more proactive, so we can be less reactive.