Not Moved By What You See

I didn’t closely follow the Derek Chauvin trial but was a bit surprised with the outcome. The former Minneapolis police officer was convicted on all three counts for the death of George Floyd. I didn’t agree with Chauvin pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes. However, fentanyl could have killed Floyd (similar to what happened to Prince five years ago). He had three times the lethal dosage in his system. The jurors may have rendered the guilty verdict fearing reprisals from protesters. 

Throughout history, innocent people have been imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. They were sometimes the victims of circumstantial evidence. One online dictionary defines that as “evidence not drawn from direct observation of a fact in issue.” An example could be someone running away from a murder scene with a weapon in hand. Unless witnesses saw him commit the murder, there’s a possibility the suspect wasn’t involved.

Hours before the Derek Chauvin verdict was delivered, I had an incident that reminded me how other situations can be misinterpreted. I went to the Apple Store because the power cord for my MacBook Pro stopped working the day before. Troubleshooting on my part convinced me the USB-C Charge Cable needed replacing. When an Apple Store employee tried a different cord, my laptop didn’t receive power from that. A closer examination revealed residue had accumulated on the Thunderbolt port. Cleaning that resulted in my cable working again.

Jesus warned in Matthew 24:24, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” In this day and hour, we cannot make decisions strictly by what we see in the natural realm where Satan can manipulate things. We need to be led by the Holy Spirit regardless of what our five senses tell us. Even when our prayers appear to go unanswered, standing on the word of God will produce results. As Smith Wigglesworth famously said, “I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe.”

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” - 2 Corinthians 5:7