Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me. – Job 38:1-3
It feels like a spiritual battle right now in Memphis. It may feel like this where you live as well. I’ve been reading Job and in all the trials, you have to remember that it wasn’t God’s doing, but Satan’s, and God was proving that Job was blameless and would not blame God. All the trials were evidence of iniquity according to Job’s friends. Wise, earthly wisdom they offered. I could see myself telling him the same. However, his tribulation was not a judgment or response to sin. It was the adversary trying to win an argument with God that his righteous follower would curse him when the hedge of protection was removed. God knew Job would not. But still, I wonder, why would God allow these trials?
When I look around Memphis this week, I’m asking that. We had four elders of Harvest Church die and the lone survivor seriously injured in a plane crash, an attempted abduction of a young woman in a “safe” neighborhood in East Memphis, shots fired at a man trying to scare off car thieves by honking his horn, stories of random shootings in Frayser, and more. I witnessed blatant shoplifting from Target on Poplar today for home goods. When leaving the store, I stopped a police officer pulling into the parking lot to ask if she was responding to the the theft. She said “no”. When I asked “How it was going out there?” she responded by saying, “I think it’s going to be bad when they release the video.” She’s referring to the death of Tyre Nichols, beaten by police after running during a traffic stop and then dying of his injuries, according to initial reports.
I read these verses and am reminded that I don’t know God’s plan. That doesn’t make evil right, but I don’t know what’s occurring in the spiritual realm, just like Job and his friends didn’t know about the conversation between God and Satan. Are these current trials we face being used to wake us up from our slumber? Are we driven to our knees to seek God in these moments? Will the power of prayer be used to transform a city in way that would never happen without this current run of evil? I don’t know how God will use these days, but I pray we ask Him how we are to respond.
Lord, we do not know Your ways, but we know You are sovereign. We pray for an end to the evil and wrongdoing around us. We repent of our own sin and we seek Your forgiveness. Lord, work in us a new spirit, one abiding in the Holy Spirit, that our lives reflect your glory and bring light to the dark corners of our community.
Lord, Memphis is our home and we mourn with our brothers and sisters. We pray for peace and comfort for the Harvest Church family and the continued recovery of Kennon Vaughan. We pray for the young lady and community shaken by an attempted abduction. We pray that the perpetrators be brought to justice. We also pray for justice, Lord, for the truth to come out and justice to be served in the death of Tyre Nichols. We pray for the police, whose job it is to serve and protect, to be the best of man and not the worst. Lord, we need them to be the best of humankind. We pray for calm, wisdom, and restraint in the days following any public release of the Nichols arrest. We pray that those planning to do harm under the cover of this tragedy be thwarted. We pray for healing for the family. We pray for caring and discernment among city leaders. We pray for forgiveness.
Lord, may You remind us that you are Our Father and we are Your children in the days to come. Love us. Care for us. Protect us. In Your name, Amen.