The Ahmaud Arbery Story – and the Spiritual Virus It’s Causing

Image property of https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/ahmaud-arbery-bittersweet-celebrations-held-slain-joggers-memory-following-murder-arrests/YYSKFTY6JJDLJARIYMLAFXUJUQ/

I do not know where you were when you heard the story of Ahmaud Arbery, or even if it matters to you, but when I read and viewed the story on various news outlets I cried. How could something so cruel be done to an innocent individual? Have your own opinion but in my view he was simply jogging in a neighborhood and gunned down by two individuals who had wrong assumptions. This young man was jogging as he usually likes to do, according to his family. The two men on the left said they were only making a citizen’s arrest but somehow this did not appear to be that at all.

The black man was unarmed so what exactly were they defending themselves against? This is the fear of any minority that appears to be a threat to the wrong person. In the midst of COVID, this situation could not immediately be addressed as it should. In the midst of an international epidemic, the family of Ahmaud has to go through a similar infection. The infection of hatred and injustice that has plagued the United States for years. When will we stop placing people in boxes based on prejudice? When will we live beyond our past and actually view people as brothers and sisters? This is definitely an international virus of the same magnitude as COVID. Many countries and cultures have endured this ailment for too long. When will we all deem it necessary to take the vaccine for hatred and negativity? This vaccine is here today and we all need a double dose of it. It does not cost anything to be cured of this virus.

When we take the vaccine of LOVE we all will have clean hands and pure hearts. We all need to pray a prayer that brings us closer to peace with our fellow man… This is not a matter of religion but of humanity.

Gracious Father, see us in our darkest moment and give us pure hearts. Allow us to love each other inside and out without the basis of race or culture. When we see others as ourselves, we are able to love them as we would like others to love ourselves. Help us to see that we are no better than our brother or sister. Let us understand that we are all in this thing called life to enhance each other. We are here to lend hands that help and not hurt. Forgive us for the boundaries and the barriers we have built that are based on ignorance and arrogance. Allow us to be genuine and pure in all our intentions. Forgive us for sins and iniquities, known and unknown. Thank you for restoration, protection, peace, and blessings, Amen.

What are you carrying?

What are you carrying? Many of us carry things in our spirit or in our minds that have us struggling with BALANCE. Think of it naturally and then see where I am going spiritually. When we try to carry heavy loads in the physical it can alter how we move. Have you ever tried to hold something in your hands but the rest of your body suffered because of it. Take for instance this man in the image above. He is trying to wrap his hands around these boxes and it looks like his knees are buckling. This load is obviously heavy.

So what do we see here? The load is heavy and he is not operating in the proper posture to carry the load. Then in my mind I am thinking, “Who do these boxes belong to anyway and what is in them? Does he have any one helping him?” Physically, if he keeps carrying loads like this, his body will definitely pay for it. My husband tells me all the time when I am attempting to lift anything, “Kneel to pick it up.” Did you catch that, yeah, it’s the perfect time to take this thing to the spiritual.

If we are carrying something heavy in the spirit we have to kneel. In this sense, it’s time to pray. Don’t carry something heavy without kneeling. When you go to God in prayer you will discover that you are not supposed to be carrying that load anyway. Remember the questions we asked earlier? I asked, “Who do these boxes belong to anyway and what is in them?” It is obvious that he is battling the stress of holding these boxes. In the spirit we have to understand that our battles do not belong to us. In every battle that was faced in the Word of God, he explicitly declared that the battle did not belong to the individual but it belonged to the Lord. Whatever you are facing in your spirit belongs to God. This is not your battle or your load to carry. No matter what is in your box or boxes. give it to God.

Your box is not too big for God. The Word of God declares, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light‘” (Matt. 11:28-30 ESV). Whatever it is, I trust the strength that comes from God. Nothing is too heavy for the God of my salvation and since I trust my battles in His hand, I am comforted. We also discussed balance in regards to carrying physical weight. The same is true spiritually. If we take on too much, we risk the chance of losing balance and falling. In the natural balance is an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady.” In the spirit, you can remain upright and steady when you entrust that weight to your spiritual weightlifter. Give that weight to someone who can carry that and more.

We have many things going on and all of us are carrying various things. I want you to remain upright and steady. I want you to live in peace abundantly and if you are open to it, it will change your life. Pray for me as I pray for you. We will get through this. Blessings to you and yours forever, Amen.