Looking for Stars on a Cloudy Night

I love looking at stars. I love looking up at the sky to find the North Star, the Big Dipper, and the Little Dipper. I'm even guilty of having the "Star Finding" app for my iPad. I find a peace in my heart knowing that I serve a God that is BIG enough to make every star my eye can see. 

This post, however, has nothing to do with stars. Stick with me.

This post has everything to do with the "light" (Jesus) the stars provide to the "night" (world).

Do ya feel me?

I'll even take it one step further and say that the "light" is good and the "night" is bad.

I'm even going to compare the fact that "light" is white and the "night" is black.

This, my friends, is a Black & White world. Yes or No. Right or Wrong. This or That.

Many things have happened in these past weeks and months that have led me to write about this topic.

The topic of judgement.

Judgement that is found based on gender, race, religion, socioeconomic status, the school you attend, your athletic ability, the brand of your clothes...and I could go on forever. Either you are, or you are not. Either you are in, or you are out. 

I feel as though this world we are living in is so "clouded" with judgements being made, that we can no longer see the "starlight" that is trying to brighten the night. If you watch the news, you've probably heard of the Paula Dean debate and the Martin vs. Zimmerman Trial. (If not, Google it.) These are very different cases, and I refuse to go into specifics on either one, but they are BOTH about judgement.

It seems as if the Civil War is still happening today. But it's more than about racial inequality.

It's about people simply not LOVING each other for who they are regardless of ANYTHING. 

Let me tell you, LOVING is hard. Especially loving someone you don't feel deserves that love. 

Good thing that our God is Love. And our God loves each of us so much that He sent His only, precious Son to die on the Cross in our name. 

That's love. 

A love we so do not deserve.

God's love for all of us is why I fight every day to NOT judge and to LOVE. 

I fail. Multiple times. Every day. 

But I refuse to let this world change what I believe. I refuse to let the judgements made about me bring me down. I refuse to sit back and watch others keep being judged for no reason. I keep my eyes wide open on the "light" that always seems to shine through the cloudiest and darkest of nights. 

I look at the faces of children that continue to stay on my heart and mind. Children with dirty hands and shoeless feet and the whole world against them. They want LOVE. They need LOVE.   Jesus loves them. I love them. 

I'm going to keep on loving and shining the light of Jesus Christ into this dark world. It needs all the love it can get. I'm not saying it will be easy on you or your heart. It may end up broken. If my heart needs to break a billion times, then let it. Because all those breaks and cracks in my heart make more room for the love of God to seep through.

"As the Father has loved me, I have loved you. Abide in my love." -John 15:9