Keep the Faith with Ty’Ann Brown: Finding Peace in the Midst of Pain

Hello, I’m Ty’Ann Brown, encouraging you to keep the faith.

Here it is, June 2020, and we are facing unprecedented times in our country and in our world. A global health crisis, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and has completely dismantled our way of living, is now followed up by extreme social unrest in the US and around the world.
Every day people are protesting from coast to coast as they are seeking peace and equality and unity. There is so much pain out there right now and sometimes it seems as if God has abandoned us and all we can do is hopelessly and helplessly watch the news, but that’s not true.

God is with us and there are ways that you can find peace and spread peace, even in the most troubling of times. Pray deeply. This is the time to double down on your prayer practice. You can reach out to faithful friends, form new prayer circles, pray online, in writing or verbally, however you can. This is the time to pray, for pray without ceasing has never been more important.

Reread the Bible. Take comfort in God’s good word. See, God knows what you and all of us are going through and He sees the bigger picture. There are countless scriptures of comfort and counsel through terrible times. One of my favorites is Psalm 23:4. It says: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff comforts me.

Love thy neighbor. This may seem like an old reused expression at times. But the power and simplicity of it cannot be understated in these times or at any time, for that matter. Black, white, rich, poor, fat, thin, God doesn’t care. He wants us to remember that He made us all in his image.

Mark 12:30-31 says: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength. And the second is to love your neighbor as yourself, for there is no greater commandment than these. No commandment is greater, none. Love God and love your neighbor with all of your heart. Simple, strong, and the first step to attaining God’s perfect peace, even now.

God bless you. Keep the faith.