You may be aware of the events that happened in Hamburg during the G20 summit global leadership meetings. From July 6th-9th there were riots, protests, cars set on fire, public destruction of private and public property and mass chaos throughout the city. We know friends living directly in the city who were not able to leave their homes because of safety concerns. Hamburg and Germany, for that matter, are generally extremely safe places to live, but that weekend it felt like we were living in a war zone.
Because we live near Hamburg, most of our everyday activities are very low risk, crime and safety wise. Last week was different. We had to cancel engagements because of the insecure level of safety in the city. We were scared. Scared for our safety, scared for our friends living in Hamburg, unable to leave their apartments, scared that a very polite society can turn into an angry mob and rule the city so quickly. We had to stop, change directions and look to our source of safety.
Jesus died for these people, the ones stuck in houses and the ones causing the chaos. He made that choice for all of us. We have the choice to accept Him or reject Him. How many of the people who were involved know that? How many of the people involved care about that? How many of the people involved understand the gravity of that? Events like this reveal to us how much our treasure is not in this world but beyond. Praise God for that!
Now that G20 is done, the people of Hamburg are returning to normalcy. Many local citizens are involved in volunteering to clean up the city. The wave of chaos is over but how will the people be impacted long-term? Will this be a reminder of how fragile life is or will it be just another day in the life? We pray that there will be a movement of the Holy Spirit and that God will use this pivotal moment as an invitation for our friends in Germany to draw close to Him.
