It was one of those nights when you
are laying in bed but you are not a wee bit tired. There is no rhyme
or reason, you just can not drift off. And for some reason that was
me that night. But now I see that there was a reason, Someone was
keeping me up for reasons beyond me......
When there is nothing to do but lay in
bed your mind goes in a thousand different directions. It differs
every time but that night particularly I was thinking of William Wilberforce.
Wilberforce has always been one of my many heroes of the past.
Singlehandedly he changed a empire's whole view and eventually the world's also. Imagine the time he was in. The British Empire was the powerhouse of
the world. “The sun never sets on the British Empire” they
boasted proudly as the union jack flew in every nation. Power, wealth and riches were all there's and more.
Everything worn, eaten or used was probably made in the Empire.
And behind this great Empire stood a trade that kept it going. That trade was
the slave trade.
At any time a child in Africa could be taken from their
family and shipped off to his death. Husbands were torn from their wives, mothers from their
children's arms. They would not have to explain themselves, they
simply took. If you stepped on the shores of England, half starved
and infested in bugs, then you were lucky. For before these Africans
could ever walk the shore they had to endure insanely horrid
conditions. They were packed so close together that you could not
even turn around. There was no fresh air. There was no waste
holdings of any kind. For as long as it took for the ship to make
from Africa to England these men, women and children had to live like
this. More then half the ships “load” was thrown overboard. How
could such life be wasted and nobody cared? They were allowed to
carry on this trade because the Africans were not
considered to be humans.
Here, where rich bureaucrats killed
humans so that they could keep their extravagant life going, is where
Wilberforce was working. Still he pushed through, fighting endlessly
for the rights for these men. The power of greed held him back for
many years. He soon realized that the excuse that these
men were not humans were just an excuse so they could continue
their lives the way they wanted them to. But
somehow Wilberforce pushed through it all. And one day he stood to see
the slave trade brought to an end. And now, thanks to his amazing
faithfulness the slave trade is completely gone today, never to
return. There were times, I am sure, when Wilberforce thought he
would never see this day ever. But because he took it to task and
arose the people's awareness he had victory.
As I was thinking
of this I made the connection with his battle to ours. We fight to
show that those who are killed are humans, and that they deserve a right to
life. At that time humans were slaves and now humans are fetuses,
both expendable whenever we choose. We need to realize and believe that our voice can make a difference. The children can not speak for themselves, they need a voice. Wilberforce
conquered in his time and was able to turn a whole belief around.
And now, today, the slave trade is completely gone. We too can have victory in our generation. But we need to commit
to the fight and take it right to the end. So this blog is not to
answer every question, but instead to equip the soldiers of God. If we speak out and fight
perseverance God will bring the victory. For the battle is in His
hands.
