Do You Live in a Bubble?

Sometimes I think I live in a bubble.

I’m just living my happy little life, often unaware and unaffected by things that others have to deal with on a daily basis. Issues such as prejudice, addictions, hidden home lives, limited freedoms. I am fortunate that I have, for the most part, been spared by many of these life-altering traumas. I have had my share of family trauma, and don’t discount any of that which others are going through.

We have more knowledge and freedoms to pursue justice and fairness for all, and yet it is clear that we are trending more in the direction of regression instead of progress in these areas. I do believe that we can overcome this though. It just takes effort and desire on each of our parts.

I recently had a friend who indicated that she and her family have had their share of insults and racism, simply because she is, as she refers to it, “a brown person”. I was actually shocked. I know racism is alive and well. But I truly had not thought of her as anything else but a genuine, beautiful person with incredibly lovely skin and a kind heart. She is actually exceptionally beautiful inside and out. I was floored when she said they have often been criticized or judged instantly by the color of their skin. I know I should be more aware that this goes on. I am now aware and in prayer that more people are accepted by their hearts and actions, instead of anything else.

I know we all have prejudices, and we pre-judge based on our past experiences, and our beliefs brought on by our upbringing. I do believe that we can erase these pre-judgments, though, if we try to live as Jesus did. We are to love even our enemies. It is sometimes hard to love those who may not be like us, or that we specifically don’t like because of some difference in their behaviors, actions, beliefs or even the way they look. We are human, so the devil loves to tempt us with lots of ways to keep us in conflict, insecurity, and fear. And boy, are we feeding right into his plan with all of our hate, offended attitudes and anger!

There is just one way to combat this atrocious behavior and our imperfect and sinful human nature. It is definitely not by our own merits, although we have to be willing participants. The only way we can truly behave differently and love everyone, is to trust that Jesus has died so that the Holy Spirit can live within us to make us whole. His Spirit in us is the only way we can possibly manage to love those who hurt us, and pray for those that have harmed those we love.

I have known people that actually tried to kill a family member of mine. And you can not just let that go. I still am angry! However, I do know that I don’t have to fight that battle. I don’t have to WIN over them, because in the end, I know that God sees the deeds of others, and He will in turn, deal with them. I believe that my heart can be free to give more, and better serve my purpose if the weight of that hurt is not my burden to carry. I could have allowed it to fester, and thought about it day and night, and to what end? Revenge? What would it have solved? Nothing. I could have ruined my life with worry, and stress, loss of precious time, possibly caused myself disease and caused my family more loss. It did cause others in my family much grief, and ultimately their life from stress and sadness. I can not live my life that way.

Even in this day and age, when we have so much access to learn and verify what is right and what is wrong, there are equally, if not more access to conflicting information, so mass confusion and chaos is rampant. Every portal that you can think of can give you thousands of different answers, right, wrong and in-between, so how do you even know what’s right or wrong or what you can trust?

Be wise. The only thing I know I can trust is what God has promised. That He will love us always, and His love will never end. He will never leave us or forsake us. We must use the Holy Bible, that has been preserved longer than any publication, over thousands of generations and wars, and was protected and provided to us for guidance to live our lives with peace and love. It was written by humans with God’s divine inspiration and breath, so that we could know Him intimately and have the best life possible. I believe that we can overcome racism and addictions, and broken families, and every other trauma that the devil wants to unleash on us, with the power of the Holy Spirit living within us. We are a mighty power with that salvation and healing! AMEN.

PS Spread the Word!!!!