Responding to the Turmoil & Evil that We See in the World

Our government is under fire. Our economy is struggling. There is social unrest. There are racial tensions. There is a war between political parties. There is division in the church. There is a spirit of fear over our nation. People are dying from the CoronaVirus. The mainstream media has not stewarded their influence well. People are calling good evil and evil good. And, social media has become a warzone… 

The United States is a wild place right now. And I imagine that what I stated above can be said, to one degree or another, about many nations around the world. So, this post is not necessarily specific to the United States, but rather can be applied to missionaries (and really anyone!) who desires to stay healthy, and keep Jesus exalted, during trying times.

So, if this wasn’t obvious already: We live in a broken world. And we ourselves have or will experience brokenness to one degree or another. It’s inevitable. How could people created for perfect fellowship with God in the Garden enter and leave this imperfect world unscathed if we lived longer than a day? We couldn’t. 

So, the question of whether or not we have experienced brokenness, trauma, pain and suffering is off of the table. With the world we live in, my question has shifted to: ‘what do we do with the brokenness we have experienced and how do we respond to the brokenness around us?’

I’ve been walking through this process lately— the process of remembering, letting myself feel, deep grieving, and healing. It’s been quite the road, with lots of bumps and potholes along the way. I’m not sure if this process can be a smooth ride… My hope, though, is that by sharing some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way, that they just might help you navigate your own journey! 

Just a few disclaimers before I jump into my process:

1. We can only press into the places that the Holy Spirit invites us into. 

• We must let the conviction and the guidance of the Holy Spirit lead us into this process, whether it is our pain, trauma and/or any habitual sin in our action or attitudes, or those of our nation. Please don’t go trudging through your or your nation’s past and painful memories without an invitation. Be faithful to press into the areas He reveals and invites you into, and try to avoid forcing anything before you are ready and in a safe place to process.

2. This process can happen one-on-one with the Lord, or in the safety of community.

• Diane Langberg, in her book Suffering and the Heart of God, shares about how healing includes tears, talking, and time. Yes, all three can be done with the Lord, but it is also important to invite others into your process for support.

• The healing process should only be entered into in a safe environment. This could be alone in a safe space, or in a safe community space. Either way, you want to make sure you’re in a place where you feel safe to let yourself feel and be a bit of a mess.

3. When things do come up, whether personal or something you see, hear about or experience, it is important to not respond in fear, control or apathy.

• X Fear: It’s important to take a deep breath, and remember that you carry His peace and power.

• X Control: Remember, we cannot fix systems or people or government. If we try to take matters into our own hands, we are choosing to not trust God and His timing and purposes.

• X Apathy: We don’t want to respond apathetically or withdraw from the reality of what is happening in us or our world today. This is the opposite of the “fixer” mentality, because often times, if we become apathetic or shut off from the world, we are choosing to do nothing… to not engage, to not have a voice, to not bother because “I can’t fix it anyway,” and this is NOT our Kingdom call either.

Okay, now that those things are out of the way, here are the 5 steps that have been helping me process, heal and encounter the Lord in this challenging time:

You just got news of, watched, or experienced: Fill in the blank. 

1. STOP & FEEL: Sit down if you need to. Listen to the story you are hearing. Watch it unfold. Recall it. Read it. Then STOP what you are doing. Let yourself FEEL emotions that come up. Don’t shut them down, let them bubble up. 

1. Emotions are valid and a gift from God. He gave us emotions to help us process and understand what we are experiencing. The Bible does not avoid feelings— the psalms give voice not only to praise, hope, wonder and joy but also to grief, frustration, anger, and helplessness. 

1. Emotions can be processed with others, but it is important to also channel strong emotions towards God, because God is great enough to absorb it and steward our broken hearts well.

2. God is not afraid of your hard questions, doubts, or feelings.

3. Here are some examples of emotion-filled Psalms:

1. Psalm 109:22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.

2. Psalm 42:5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

4. If you’re having a hard time pinpointing what emotions you are experiencing, use a prayer practice like Ignatius’ Review of Consciousness Prayer (desolation vs consolation moments), or a simple practice of taking time at the end of each day and thinking about what went well and what didn’t go well, and WHY. This could help you identify your triggers, as well as your emotions.

2. ACKNOWLEDGE GOD IS IN THE ROOM: Even while you are processing deep emotions, remember that our God is Immanuel, God with us. He is with you, He has not gone anywhere. No matter how messy things get, God is with you in your greatest joy and deepest pain. 

1. It’s important in this process to make sure that you don’t completely spiral down into emotion without acknowledging God’s presence. In this, it’s important to feel and experience your emotions, but not let them fully control you. Let them be an indicator light that points you to the place you need to go, not the guide on how to fix what is deeply affecting you. An indicator light on a car dashboard can point you to the problem, but it cannot tell the whole story of what’s wrong, give a diagnosis, nor do the work to solve it.

3. REMEMBER GOD IS IN CONTROL: Our emotions may take us to a dark place of pain or suffering. That is okay, Christ is with you. No matter where you end up when letting yourself truly feel, you then want to acknowledge that GOD IS IN CONTROL. He is sovereign. Nothing happens outside of His knowledge and ability to intervene. Even if it seems that everything is out of control, God is not surprised nor worried about what He’s going to do about all the mess. He is always working, whether we can see it or not. A part of this is acknowledging our TRUST in God (open handedness). We must do this daily, and especially in this process. 

Isaiah 40:31 – “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

1. We must fight to reach this place of trust in God. Whatever will get you to a place of experiencing your deep emotions, while also placing your trust in the Lord, do it.

1. If you need to repent of anything in this place, repent. 

2. If you need to cry, cry.

3. If you need to yell, yell.

4. If you need to speak scripture, speak scripture.

5. If you need to worship, we worship.

6. If you need to lay down burdens, lay them down.

7. If you need to forgive someone, forgive them.

1. Desmond Tutu, in his book called Book of Forgiving shares how forgiveness is giving up your right for revenge. No matter what atrocities you see or experience, we must surrender our right for revenge and choose the way of Christ and say, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Three Potential Stumbling Blocks to Full Trust (b, c & d):

2. Fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of the “what ifs”, fear of wondering how this will affect me, fear of the end of the world, fear of: fill in the blank. If this happens we must circle back through acknowledging our trust and faith in God. First repent of your fear or in any ways you’re not trusting Him. 

1. Also, make sure to hold your thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). Playing the what if game and going down the rabbit hole of where all of this could lead is not actually putting your faith/hope/trust in Jesus. If you realize you are doing this, again, simply repent, and do whatever you need to do to get back to a place of trusting in God.

3. Sometimes we are trusting that God is in control, but we’re not convinced that He knows what He’s doing.

1. Sometimes, we pray prayers of complaint, and God moves, yet we find ourselves questioning why He did things the way He did. Sometimes God shares His why, but not always. Either way, we must move into repentance and trust. 

Here’s an example:

Habakkuk’s Process:

+ He complains about why evil in Judah goes unpunished.

+ God responds that the Babylonians will punish Judah, and that He is raising them up to deal with evil. 

+ Habakkuk complains and asks how a just God could use a wicked nation like Babylon to punish more righteous people?

+ God responds and says that Babylon will also be punished and faith in Judah will be rewarded.

+ Habakkuk prays for God’s wrath and mercy and confesses trust and joy in God.

Our Process:

+ Us: What are you going to do about this??

+ God: This is how I’m going to answer your prayers.

+ Us: What? Why? Why are you doing it that way? How could you do it that way??

+ God: Trust me. And trust the way that I am working. I am good and just. And my plan is bigger than you can see now.

+ Us: Forgive me Lord. Let your will be done. Whatever happens and however you bring about your plans and purposes on the earth, I will exalt you.

2. Isaiah 55:8-9- “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

3. Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”

1. In all of this, we need not fear the future nor try to use our own limited understanding to try to wrap our minds around how and why God is doing something. When our hope is secure in Christ, no matter how things look or how God brings about His will on the earth, and no matter what comes our way, we can live in perfect peace with Him and trust Him.
   

4. You’re a fixer. Maybe, once you let yourself feel your deep emotions and the reality of pain, you come to the conclusion that you must fix everything. Although this can be a natural response of the flesh, we must try to stop ourselves from doing this. 

1. Zechariah 4:6- “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of Hosts.”

2. You are part of Christ’s body and a part of establishing Christ’s Kingdom on the earth. BUT you are not meant to carry the weight of the world and all of its brokenness. Christ already paid the price for the forgiveness of sins, freedom and salvation. He took all of the sin of the world from beginning to end upon Himself on the cross. You were never meant to carry the weight of all of it. 

3. You were created for perfect fellowship in the Garden of Eden, not for a broken and fallen world. Our ability to walk through pain and trials well can ONLY come through relationship with Christ. (Those who do not have a relationship with Christ will have a very hard time going to dark places within themselves or the world, as they won’t know Christ’s love, light and hope to bring healing and lead them out.) 

1. Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 

2. Remember, you will never feel a burden on your heart for someone or something that Christ does not already feel. He is interceding day and night on our behalf. The things that are burdening your heart are not yours alone. He is not asking you to carry those things alone. It is a gift to feel those things, because it reveals the things that God made us to deeply care about, BUT we cannot experience all of the pain and brokenness in the world, or even in a specific community or population, and expect that we will ever be able to carry those things and thrive. 

1. We must daily bring those things to the feet of Jesus to be able to experience His rest. 

3. Here is a prayer practice you can try if you find yourself in this place of feeling burdens that you are not meant to carry:

   Ask God what burdens you may be carrying? Take a deep breath. Do you feel any weight on your chest, shoulders or head? If you do, ask God what the source of that heaviness is. When He shows you or speaks to you what it (or maybe more than one) is, I want you to say OUT LOUD. “God forgive me for trying to carry the weight of ______. I repent right now for trying to be You. I give you this burden right now. I take it off of myself (physically do it, if it helps) and lay it at your feet, and I enter into your rest. Thank you that Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light.” 

1. Take another deep breath. You should feel lighter! And if you don’t, there may be more worries that you’re carrying that you need to lay at Jesus’ feet. That’s okay! Just ask Him what else you may be holding on to.

4. PRAY: Next in this process is: we PRAY. From a pure, humble, repentant heart, we pray!

1. Philippians 4:6-7- “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

2. We intercede. We cry out for God’s redemption. We pray for our family, our community, our city, our nation, our country, our world. We pray for our leaders and all the leaders in the world. We plead the blood of Jesus. We exalt His name over all. We remind all of hell that Christ has already WON. We cry out for God’s intervention. We pray for His justice. We pray for His peace that surpasses all understanding. We pray for His wisdom. We pray for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. We pray and we ask God for how we should respond, what He is inviting us into, and for opportunities for us to partner with Him in His mission on the earth. We ask for God to empower us with His Holy Spirit and to make us BOLD for His Name.

3. Prayer is one of our most powerful actions we can take. 

1. James 5:16 – “The prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective.”

2. God hears our prayers. 1 Peter 3:12 – “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer…” 1 John 5:15 – “And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” Jeremiah 29:12; “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”

3. In times of turmoil during the life of Daniel, each time, Daniel was on His knees in prayer and intercession. Daniel was sentenced to be executed, along with all the other wise men, because they could not tell and interpret King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream Daniel 2:14 – “He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed…” and we know that God gave Daniel the dream and interpretation that night, which spared his and his friends lives, and exalted them to positions of authority. Later, Daniel was going to be thrown into the den of lions from a set up from other administrators. And Daniel 6:10 says, “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” And as we know, Daniel was untouched by the lions!

4. Prayers of Lament: a passionate expression of grief or sorrow.

1. Jeremiah 4:8 – “So put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us.”

2. Kathleen O’Connor in her book Jeremiah: Pain and Promise, writes “Perhaps it is the capacity of laments to bring unspeakable suffering into the light that expands the heart and makes room for hope to emerge across the gap of emptiness.”

3. The act of lamenting can help overcome entrenched denial because it puts truth into the open and brings awareness in accumulating layers of that which has been denied… Lamenting “enables individuals and communities to break with the past without forgetting it,” and so can be a public act of reconciliation (Denise Ackermann). 

5. LIVE AS CHRIST LIVED & BE OBEDIENT TO HIS LEADING.

1. The most important thing to do is to follow Christ’s example.

1. Micah 6:8 – “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

2. Diane Langberg, from her book Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores reveals what a life that follows the footsteps of Christ looks like:

   “Such an invitation [into ministry] is really nothing other than a call to follow in the footsteps of our Lord, who entered into the terrible atrocity of this fallen world and endured the unspeakable. He who did so for our sakes has called us to do the same for those who are suffering. He came in a body of flesh to walk among us in our darkness, our fear, and our atrocities. He who now stands at the right hand of the Father interceding still has a body here on earth. We are that body of flesh still called out of love and obedience to the Father, to walk among others in their darkness, their fears and atrocities in a way that explains the Father to others.” 

3. She continues to talk in the book about how rescue workers and first responders are a picture of the Gospel– they are a picture of how Christ enters into the rubble and mess of our lives and brings hope, comfort and healing.

   “It [the call to partner with Christ’s sufferings] is not the kind of invitation most of us like to receive. He is the Man of Sorrows and familiar with suffering. You and I would rather be familiar with success. He was despised and rejected. We prefer acceptance and applause. He took up our griefs and carried our sorrows. We desire to take up awards and carry accolades. He was crushed for our sins, oppressed, judged, and cut off from the land of the living. And you and I, as the servants of God, are called to complete in our lives what is lacking in regard to Christ’s sufferings, for the sake of his body. It is not unlike the rescue workers, who are filling up what is lacking in this terrible suffering for the sake of this world our God “so loves.”

1. In these excerpts, what stands out to you about the life of Jesus? 

1. Looking at Christ’s life forces us to evaluate and potentially adjust our value system. Some good questions I’ve been asking myself as I engage in ministry during this chaotic time are:

1. Is what I’m engaging in, doing or saying what Jesus invited me into or asked of me?

2. Does what I’m engaging in, doing, or saying align with Christ’s values?

3. Am I doing, writing, saying this for God, or because others expect it from me?

4. Am I praying Christ’s will, or my own?

5. Am I doing this for Christ’s glory, or my own?

2. Ask God in what ways and areas He has given you a voice and influence. 

1. What did God speak to you or show you in prayer about how you can partner with Him?

2. Are there any opportunities to partner with Him in the lives of the people around you, or on the platform He’s given you?

3. Whatever He asks of you, be OBEDIENT.

1. 1 Peter 1: 22-23 (TPT)- “Now, because of your obedience to the truth, you have purified your very souls, and this empowers you to be full of love for your fellow believers. So express this sincere love toward one another passionately and with a pure heart. 23 For through the eternal and living Word of God you have been born again. And this “seed” that he planted within you can never be destroyed but will live and grow inside of you forever.

1. Our obedience heals us… it purifies us… and this empowers us to be full of God’s love, which is exactly what this world so desperately needs!

2. What is God asking you to walk in obedience in TODAY?

---

I hope and pray that this 5-step process blesses you and equips you to navigate the roads ahead. May the Lord bless your journey!

 

Xoxo, Brittany

p.s. I am no longer fundraising. Thank you for all of your love and support over the years! 🙂