In the recent news of the Derek Chauvin verdict over the George Floyd murder, many people have had to experience the cycle of grief again, the intensity of emotions that come with being oppressed, the fear of hoping, the up and down of anxiety that wishes for something better and the exchange of uncomfortable revealing discussions that need to happen, yet are so exhausting. These last couple of weeks have once again opened up my eyes to the division and confusion, the blatant ignorance and the heartache, that exists in the world in which we live. Once again, I have had to focus on how much I love my boys and how much the reality of being black has me always in a state of concern for their future.

I am seeing many posts that show a series of 3 pictures. These are photos of a baby, a young man and then an older man. The caption with these photos is a question that really tugged at my heart. It reads “when did I become a threat?” This question is in response to men and boys whose lives have been cut short due to police shootings. But I would like to take a different angle on this question because it makes me feel better and helps me to get through this fight of racial inequality and systemic racism by leaving the fight in God’s hands.

As I think about my babies, my precious boys that are my sons and my husband, I believe that they have been a threat from the moment God created them, and I am not talking about in society but to an even greater force. As long as they are being prayed for and as long as they are living in the will of God, they are a threat. They are a threat to the enemy. It is the enemy who does not want them to live out their purpose and fulfill their destiny. It is the enemy that is against them. It is the enemy that they need to be a threat to and it is to the enemy that I will do anything in my power to make sure they remain a threat.

As I think about my babies, my precious boys that are my sons and my husband, I believe that they have been a threat from the moment God created them, and I am not talking about in society but to an even greater force.

Ephesians 6 is very clear that we do not wrestle against what is our earthly experience and what we see practically unfolding before our eyes. Our war is spiritual. The majority of the fight we fight has to be a spiritual one. We have to use what we have been spiritually equipped with and trust God’s protection. I must teach my boys to wear and use the full armour of God.
2 Corinthians 10:4 also clearly states that the weapons we are to use in this spiritual fight are not human ones but mighty through God alone, to bring the victory. I must PRAY! They must PRAY! And as they pray, live for God.

Psalms 139 is a beautiful passage of scripture that reminds us that there is nowhere anyone can go that is out of the presence of God. It illustrates a beautiful picture that wherever we are God sees and knows us. Verses 13-16 speak of the truth that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and that our days are ordained. I can continue to remind them that God created them
perfectly. He is pleased with them. There is nothing wrong with them. They are loved. God knows their days and what they are to do with them and in them. Nothing can change God’s plan for their lives.

Psalms 57:2 says “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.”

Psalm 138:8 says “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the works of your hands.” I can continue to cover my boys in prayer and encourage them to pray continually themselves for God to show them the way to walk and live. I can pray and encourage my boys to pray, to trust and believe that God and God alone, is the only one who can and will fulfill every purpose he has planned for them.

Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” I can look at the gifts and abilities that I see in my boys and be their biggest cheerleader. I can encourage them to grow in their talents and continue to help them to see the hand of God at work in their lives, leading them to knowing who it is that they have been created to be. I can continue to speak truth into their lives that who they are and what they do, has been prepared beforehand by God. No one can change that. It is my responsibility to direct them to walk uprightly with knowledge and understanding of who they are and who God is and how the two connect or work together.

I can help them to walk in the way God wants them to walk, by following God’s command in Deuteronomy 6:6-7, to teach them His word and talk about God’s Word often in our home, morning and night. To be a threat to the enemy they need to know the Lord for themselves. Their relationship with God needs to be a personal one. As Proverbs 22:6 states, I must “train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” In this dark world I can continue to point the way to the light. I can and I will show them that the Word of the Lord lights their way and by following it, they can please God and keep their way pure. (Psalm 119:9,105)

I do not know what God has planned for my boys, but I do know He has a plan. I know His plan is good. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God’s plan are to prosper and not to harm and to give a hope and future. I am going to pass that message on to my boys and arm them with truth, confidence, bravery and courage. I know that the world can have some very rough things and traps planned for them. I know that I can’t protect them from everything but I can prepare them for the war that matters most. The battle against the lies that they have little worth. The battle against the lies that they don’t fit in or belong. The battle for their souls. The battle for their eternal destiny.

I am going to continue to let my boys know that they are most certainly a threat- a threat for the enemy, but a wanted, loved, chosen and equipped son of the Most High God. They are equipped for battle. They are armed. They are protected. With everything in me, I will give them what they need, to the best of my ability, and leave the rest of their protection and battle sharpening up to the one who is the greatest warrior and greatest threat. Truth is-He has already won. My boys are in the hands of God. I will trust him.