Dr. Martin Luther King . . .

. . . was a man of strong faith and principle . . . and he used both to peacefully change the world. He was born at a time of darkness and confusion, but was unwilling to sit idle and simply “go along to get along.”

I believe God raises people up for special reasons . . . and I believe He has throughout history (the Bible is replete with accounts of such folks). I believe Dr. King was one such person that the Lord raised up and equipped for that time in history.

The terrible truth is that there were laws (both Federal and state), constraints, barriers, and social norms that denied people of color even the least of human rights and dignities. It was in that darkness that a humble Baptist preacher from the South stepped forward and called a nation to repentance, and as incredible as it might seem, that nation was completely ignorant that there was a need for repentance. He taught his followers that regardless of the injustices they might encounter in their struggle for equality, their objective could never be achieved through force, anger, war, or the ways of the world. He taught the world that human dignity and basic human rights were ordained by God, and that God was no respecter of persons relative to issues such as color or national origin.

Few people throughout history have been as gifted at standing before a crowd and communicating a message as this humble messenger, this Nobel Peace laureate, was. He was masterful at illuminating the injustice of the plight of people of color and the barriers imposed by a wrong-minded culture.

He was gunned down by a madman in Memphis, for nothing more that preaching his convictions and challenging his generation to be better than it was. He delivered a wonderful speech entitled, “I have a Dream.”

After his death, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 1983, President Reagan signed a bill that honored Dr. King by dedicating his birthday as a national holiday.

Have you ever asked yourself the age-old question, “Can one person really make a difference?” I would argue that you need not look much further that this good man’s short life. The truth is that he was born at a time of darkness and was greatly handicapped by his situation and circumstances, but he led a people to overcome!

It is amazing what the Lord can do in a person’s life.

 

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