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Weekly Blessings: Week 35: Selma and the Holy Ghost

My mother and I got the chance to see the movie Selma in theaters a while back and I have to say, it is a truly amazing movie! It is important that everyone see that movie, especially African Americans.

Anyway, there was a scene in the movie when Martin Luther King,Jr. and other demonstrators were going to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. They had been fighting the government to allow King and his followers to have a peaceful, uninterrupted protest. When they approached the officers and the other White citizens of the town, they cleared the streets in order to let them cross. Slightly surprised by the gesture, King took a minute to kneel down an say a prayer. After he finished his prayer he got up, turned around, and walked away. His followers were shocked and appalled by the fact that King was ending the protest and tried to confront him, but a small few understood his reasons, including the priest from Boston that was killed not too long afterwards.

The priest explained that King’s actions were similar to what happens to a preacher in the middle of a sermon. You can prepare all the notes you want and rehearse them until you’re blue in the face, but if God has something He wants you to do or say, you can’t help but take His lead.

Image Credit: Voices Against the Grain

 Martin Luther King planned to march across that bridge with those men and women that day, but God showed Him something that changed the whole outcome of the day. Nobody knows what God showed him; God may have shown him all of the violence and bloodshed that could have occurred if they would have marched on. Maybe He simply told Martin that it wasn’t time yet. Maybe God told him that if he would have kept on marching none of the things he accomplished in his life would come to fruition or that his short life would have been cut even shorter. Only God and Martin know.

I pointed out this scene because I wanted to explain that Martin’s experience is similar to what happens to all of us as Christians, if we’re listening properly. We all have our own plans that we have for our lives, but sometimes, even at last minute, God comes in and tells us something that changes the whole game.

Image Credit: http://s371.photobucket.com/user/Kimbo234_05/media/Family%20Pics/Christian%20Album/john-16-13.jpg.html

Take David for example. David was a simple Shepherd boy who didn’t think he was capable of doing anything great, but God convinced him that he could defeat Goliath. Everyone thought he was crazy but he went out, did it anyway, and was successful, becoming king. All because he trusted God.

Sometimes we just have to let God take the lead. I know it’s hard, but in order to have a real and true relationship with the Lord, we have to allow Him to do His job, which is to love and care for us! People may look at you crazy, talk about you behind your back, or even scold you to your face, but in the end you will come out victorious every time because God will never lead you wrong!

This may have seemed like a long, rambling post that didn’t really seem to have any purpose, so if you’re still confused here’s my point:

Trust God and take His lead; you’ll never be wrong!


If you’d like to share something  that God has put on your heart or have a question or comment you would like to share, you’re more than welcome! If you’re interested in writing a post for “Weekly Blessings,” or offer an opinion or topic suggestion, get in touch with me via Facebook,  Twitter, or Emailyou can also simply comment below and I’ll make sure to get back with you!


8 thoughts on “Weekly Blessings: Week 35: Selma and the Holy Ghost

  1. This is a beautiful post! I am definitely planning on seeing the film. I hope it will be educational and transformative.

  2. Thanks for focusing in on the bridge scene from SELMA, Jessica. I saw it reproduced on the Academy Awards last night as a backdrop for the song, GLORY, which brought the house down with applause and appreciation. That scene alone made me want to see the movie. After months of cinematic rejects, there are now half a dozen films on our TO DO list. I guess we are – off to the movies.

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