I cannot believe that there is a man, woman, or child that is not deeply disturbed by the violent death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee. I don’t need to review the brutal images we have seen played out on our TV screens over the last few days. They tell a story that will be extremely difficult for me to ever forget. And frankly, I’m not sure I want to. It is time for us, as the human race, to confront this image of man’s inhumanity to man if we ever hope to escape God’s judgment of us.
That phrase … man’s inhumanity to man … has been used by many notable people seeking to change our societal culture from one of indifference towards our fellow man to a culture that honors our shared membership in the human race; all created in the image of our Creator God. [Martin Luther King comes to mind in his 1967 speech at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Washington, D.C.]. But I was intrigued to find that this phrase originated with Scottish poet Robert Burns in his 1784 poem, titled “Man Was Made To Mourn”. I’d like to share the particular verse in which it appears:
Many and sharp the num’rous ills
Inwoven with our frame!
More pointed still, we make ourselves
Regret, remorse and shame!
And man, whose heav’n-erected face
The smiles of love adorn –
Man’s inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn!
Nothing is truer today than this beautifully written prose. There are millions who are mourning what we have witnessed in the inhumanity heaped upon Tyre Nichols by his fellow man! And while others want to make this about race, all I see is a fellow human being who experienced insufferable and intolerable violence – nothing he could have done deserved that level of wickedness and evil. Instead, I revert to what God proclaims in His Word: God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth” [Acts 17:26]. Note that the word “race” does not appear in this passage. Every human being in the world is classified as Homo Sapien. Even scientists agree that we are all part of one biological family called the human race. We are all related to each other, no matter our skin color or gender; we are all descended from one man and one woman, created in the image of God, Himself.
Pundits will tell us that it is time that we re-examine how we treat each other; but we have had that capability since the beginning of time, and the violence against our fellow human beings just seems to keep escalating. The soul-shattering violence against Tyre Nichols has not been lost on our righteous and holy God. How much longer will He hold back the Restrainer’s hand? I imagine that His cup of wrath [against those who commit such savagery and evil against His creation] is about to overflow.
And yet, in the midst of such a visible atrocity, the mother of
Tyre speaks peace from the depth of her grief. She called for calm and peaceful
protests; destruction and more violence would not represent her son and the man
he was. She asked for peace and prayer during the difficult days to come, and
her composure and heart for God brought a degree of tranquility to a nation who
grieved with her for the unconscionable death of her son. My spirit recognized
where her strength came from, and I couldn’t help but think she reminded me of
Mary, the mother of Jesus, on the eve of the vile and shocking death of her son on the Cross. May our Father in
Heaven continue to strengthen her as she goes through the process of grieving
her beloved son. And may He hold in check those that would seek to capitalize upon her grief for nefarious reasons.
Tyre Nichols was described by his friends and family as “a peaceful man”; a man who loved to walk the beaches in California and watch the sun set. He had also expressed interest in becoming a police officer to “help change the culture”. Our culture as a society [and the human race] certainly needs changing when such violence can be perpetrated without intervention by our fellow man. God will demand a reckoning regarding how we are treating each other! It’s the condition of our hearts that needs to be fixed. It cannot be legislated, and more police training is not the answer. We must recognize that each of us – all of us – are members of one human family, and it is only a positive response to an invitation from Jesus to change our hearts that will accomplish that transformation.
The only solace that my soul and spirit find in this tragic incident comes from what I have witnessed in the midst of our Inner Healing Ministry sessions. So many people, when seeking a spiritual encounter with Jesus to be set free from trauma and devastating events in their lives, find that He shows them He was there experiencing the pain and trauma with them. So, I think upon those lonely and agonizing 20 minutes Tyre spent until Emergency personnel appeared on the scene to transport him to the hospital. And because I've seen Him do it in others lives, I believe that Jesus was there with Tyre, cradling his spirit, encouraging him, and telling him that if our society will let Him, He will use Tyre's life for His greater glory to purge the darkness the Enemy has brought to the heart of mankind.
So, Lord, do not let Tyre's death be a sacrifice on Satan's altar of man's inhumanity to man. Intervene on our behalf, Lord Jesus, and cause a transformation in the family of man! Cleanse and purify our dark hearts so that the springs of Life flow from them! We desperately need it before we destroy each other even more!
#jesuswept #tyrenichols #godsjudgment #godsreckoning #godsjustice #mansinhumanitytoman
Psalm 11:5 The Lord tests the righteous, but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
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