Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
-Psalm 34:14
This week has been a heavy one. In the wake of senseless shootings in Atlanta and storms and tornadoes causing damage across the South, I wanted to send this verse out into this corner of the internet. I don’t know if y’all feel this way, but my heart can get so weighed down as I take in the tragedy that occurs each day in this broken world. Honestly, there I times I want to ignore it, but instead I’m learning to lament the evil in the world, the senseless loss of the life, the abuse, the fact that there are over 40 million people still in some form of slavery today. Lament is the right response to this sort of brokenness, but there is also this beautiful invitation to turn from evil and do good. To seek peace and pursue it. I don’t know what that looks like for you today. Maybe it’s saying a prayer for the families who lost loved ones in Atlanta. Maybe it’s linking arms with an organization in your community doing good in your neighborhood. Maybe it’s joining the work of an anti-slavery organization like IJM, seeking justice and setting people free who have been enslaved across the globe. Maybe it’s simply having a conversation that seeks reconciliation
I love that instead of despair in the face of how evil this world can be, which is what I feel a lot of days by the way, God calls us to turn from evil and do good. He calls us to walk in the midst of the darkness, reflecting His light. I love that God doesn’t call us to do anything that He hasn’t already done. Jesus turned from evil and did good. He entered into the pit of evil itself, and overcame it with Love. We can take heart, even when we’re reminded of the broken world around us and within us, and turn from evil to do good and pursue peace in the world.
