Seekers of His Will: Thoughts Regarding the Zimmerman Trial

I'm sure everyone by now knows about the Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman incident last year as well as the trial that ensued and recently came to a close this week. I found myself during the media coverage of this trial criticizing and condemning the hypocrisy and inconsistencies of what I was witnessing. But lo and behold, every time I went to social media to "righteously-vent" I felt the Lord pressing me to self examine myself with the very sin issues I placed on others: entitlement, hatred, false testimony, fear... At the root of every single one of these I have at one point found myself attached. Now, I believe that by faith in Jesus Christ those ties are severed, but the indwelling imprint of my association with them remains. So instead of letting me post in frustration and confusion under the guise of promoting His kingdom, the Lord led me to self reflection. Here are some things that I feel I've gained from the process thus far:

Be careful that when you speak for the Lord, that you are speaking from the fullness of His heart, not just from a part of His heart that validates your perspective in a given moment or situation.
As His people today, we can't afford to give anything less because by doing so we limit the perception of His interaction with humanity to that of an imaginary friend who thinks just like us and exists to validate our emotional inconsistencies, fleshly inclinations, and self-centeredness. I think the world's seen enough of that already, don't you?

He lives in you, but He also lives outside of this fallen world and is the only One with a viewpoint without blemish.
Compare your vision to His and you may find that you have your ducks in order; you may find that you were on the right track but missed something along the way; you may find that you are completely off. So hold your perceptions loosely, and whatever they may be in your eyes, right or wrong, make it your effort and life mission to seek and share His so that we may see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. This is where unity is birthed, under the mind of One, that is Christ (Philippians 2:2 & Romans 15:5-6).

Some good ways to tell if you are truly speaking for the Lord in a given situation:

• Do your words have hope in them?

• Do your words resemble Christ's character?

• Do your words seem impossible to fulfill without the aid of God's Holy Spirit (are your words super-natural)?

• Do your words advance the kingdom of God?

If you answered yes to all of these, you may be on the right track.

You will find that this method may cause you to lean on the side of silence rather than speech because the very words you would speak that are from God go against your own flesh as well. Is this not what the prophets of the Old Testament suffered? The messenger Isaiah, in the presence of the Lord bursts out in lamentation of his filthy lips (Isaiah 6). Ezekiel, when receiving instruction for his ministry is charged by the Lord to not only speak the word of the Lord, but to first eat it himself (Ezekiel 2-3). Jonah, in rebellion of the Lord knew the will and word of God so well that he ran from being a part of it because the ideals he held from his own perspective were not met (Jonah 4:1-3). If he got his way, the entire city of Nineveh would have been destroyed in judgment. Now I'm not saying that we should keep silent in the face of injustice. I'm saying that it is always better to speak from a place of humility and obedience rather than self-righteousness. I know times are rough for many of us but please do not lose the kingdom perspective, and if you've never had it, now's a better time than ever to get it.

"For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin."

―(Hebrews 12:3-4)

With the Love of Christ,

One that is also completely dependent on the work and power of the Holy Spirit to be obedient to this word,

Ya boi Thaddeus.