Flowers Are Not Enough, How Not to Fear in the Face of Terroism

A recent video posted on Facebook has received over 15 million views. In it, a young French father explains the horror of the recent terror strikes in Paris. While his words are wise and creative, they fail to fully explain where our safety and protection truly lies:

Watch the video here.

Oh, dear child, you are so wise.  That sadness on your face mirrors my heart.  Flowers are not … Protection.

Flowers are not enough.

Good thoughts help us endure but they will not take the ache away.  They do not stop the bullets or the bombs.  Pretending it is okay … saying “I feel better” when nothing changes, destroys us.  Good thoughts that are not whole truth are lies.  It is lies that brought the destruction to begin with …

And you, dear loving daddy.  Your quiet, loving heart longs to chase out that fear.  You want the flowers to be enough.  You know the despair of inadequacy.  Remembering that lives were lost becomes a paragraph in a history book.  No one wants their life legacy to be that of a terrorist victim.  There is a loving Father who shares your desire.  He has Truth and power that really protects.  Don’t you know Him?  Won’t you tell your child about Him?  Listen to this mommy explain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=ceJ9Emobfow

Flowers express our feelings, but they are inadequate testimonies for life!  Flowers won’t protect our loved ones.  It is a lie that even a child recognizes.  There is more to live for–there is power that lasts for eternity.  The One who made those flowers creates and gives life.  His soul weeps at the hate that destroys His most precious creation.  He continues to call out to those who remain.  Remember me!

Perfect love casts out all fear.  Perfect love never lies; it never gives false hope.  Security is not found in a bigger bomb, more weapons or memorial flowers.  It is found in the wisdom of reverencing the Giver of Life.  Our days are but a breath … a wisp of wind in a turbulent world.  But our lives lived on purpose for the purpose of pointing to the Creator brings hope and life in the midst of despair.

Little boy, your fear of bad men can go away.  Like your daddy said, bad men are everywhere.  But the God who loves you.  The God who created you and came to this world as a baby won the war against bad men.  When He lived upon the earth, His mommy named Him, Jesus.  Bad men took Jesus and hurt Him very much … and then they killed Him.  Through it all, Jesus never hated or hurt them back.  As He was dying, He asked Father God to forgive the bad men.  Jesus was (and is) so good, so full of life that death had no power over Him.  The loving Spirit of God lived in Jesus and raised Him to life.  When you trust Jesus with your life, that same loving Spirit can be yours.  THAT is the only protection for a world full of bad men.

My heart grieves for the people captive to fear, and for the people captive to hatred.  Christ came to set people free from such things. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil.  Hatred and fear are two such works.  My plea today is three dimensional:

To my heavenly Father, my Savior and my Power Source, thank you.  Fill me to overflowing with your goodness.  Flush out my “self” and fill me with You that I can be poured out on Your precious world.  Reveal yourself to the world in me.

For those driven by hate and free, I plead with you to believe there is a better way.  When you seek God with all your heart, He promises to be found.

For my brothers and sisters in Christ, share the hope within you.  Stop biting and devouring others.  Stop insisting on the rightness of your opinion.  Your opinion does not matter!  Jesus Christ does.  Share HIM!

Who can you share Jesus with today?