The LORD loves righteousness and justice…
Psalms 33 : 5
SERIES : Part 1
The woman left desolate, the little child deserted by parents, the hungry, the broken, the afflicted, the poor, the oppressed, the foreigner, the lost – God’s heart beats and breaks for them. He longs to save them, help them and build them up again. And, He does. He always does. He is a God of Justice. He is the Savior of the weak and the poor. He came for the lost.
When we read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, one of the constant understanding of God that comes through is His love for justice. He cannot overlook an unjust act, whether it is meted out to His creation or by His creation. He will act swiftly to bring justice to the one suffering.
In fact, this God, who is a just God, brought us the greatest gift of redemption by going through utmost injustice of laying down His only true and holy Son, Jesus, for our iniquities and mistakes. His justice made Him sacrifice His son for us and justify us for every sin and unrighteous act of ours, and the same justice will cause Him to judge the living and the dead in the ultimate judgement of humankind.
You may be going through injustice in some way or the other. May be you are being mistreated in a foreign land, you are dealt with unjustly at your work place or college, you’re oppressed by people around you or even spiritually and mentally, you are needy and can’t find help, you are cast out from everyone, everywhere. Today, this word is a word of encouragement, understanding and reminder to you that the God of Justice is near you and He will not forsake you.
This is the heart of the one true God –
- HE LOOKS OUT FOR THE OUTCAST
Have you ever thought that no one looks at the oppression you are facing? No one sees and no one cares? Well, let me take you through the story of a slave woman who was mistreated by her mistress and was not even part of the nation that God wanted to bless through Abraham’s descendants – Yet, when she ran away from her mistress and was in a hopeless place – God SAW her. God rescued Hagar.
In Genesis 16 : 13, it says, “She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.””
God sees you, beloved. Your suffering, your loneliness, the oppression you go through, the rejection you face, the helpless state you are in, your poverty and your hunger.
He is the real superhero that we all long for and hope for. He is watching over us and He will come to save us at the right time.
Here’s what the Word of God says in Psalms 68 : 5-6,9-10, “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance. Your people settled in it, and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor.”
God is always on the side of those in need, those crushed in spirit. He sees them and he comes to their rescue. He is the real superhero that we all long for and hope for. He is watching over us and He will come to save us at the right time. As the Psalmist says in Psalms 103:6 – “The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.”
He is just a call away, a cry away, a shout out away. Call unto Him and He will surely hear you.
“He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.” – Psalms 146 : 7-9
- HE LEVELS UNEVEN GROUNDS
One thing that the Lord intends to do and is repeated over and over across the Word of God is – Leveling uneven grounds. Additionally, in their contexts, what God is trying to convey is to set things right where they are not. More so, in the context of the oppressed and the poor.
A lot of times, we are trying to fight our oppression, our poverty or our loneliness on our own strength and in worldly ways. But, the heart of God is to level uneven grounds and to lift up the weak and the poor. Only, only if we rely and trust God and His justice rather than worldly temporal solutions, we would receive such an abundance of blessing and deliverance.
Isaiah prophesised several times of God saying that He will ‘not forsake the blind, poor and weak’, that He will ‘go before them and make the crooked places straight’.
In Isaiah 42 : 16, He says, “And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.”
The heart of God is to level uneven grounds and to lift up the weak and the poor. Only, only if we rely and trust God and His justice rather than worldly temporal solutions, we would receive such an abundance of blessing and deliverance.
In fact, God’s word as a promise says that He will make the poor inherit the throne of glory, lift the weak up and seat them among princes, and make the childless woman a mother of many children (Isaiah 45:2, 40:4 and Psalms 113:7-8).
Beloved, God intends to set everything right that is not right. He won’t leave you where you are, He promises to lift you out and place you where He has created you to be – a glorious place. If you are in a place of injustice, remind yourself today that the God of justice will lift you up from the ashes and place you in the highest of places. He will make all the crooked paths straight.
- IT IS GOD’S TO AVENGE
So often, we long to ‘pay back’ for the injustice that we face. We want to fight back for justice. In today’s world, everyone wants to fight for justice; except without any weighs or balance to it.
Yet, do you know what God says we must do when someone we love or we ourselves face injustice? We must trust and commit it to the Lord and He will avenge for us.
In Deuteronomy 32 : 35, God says, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”
Do not fret because if we trust God and commit every injustice meted out to us into His loving hands, the word of God says that ‘He will make our righteousness shine forth as the dawn’.
In fact, in Isaiah 35, we see how God is blessing those who face injustice and are facing troubles for no wrong. In verse 4, this is what God says to them – “Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”
What did the Israelites, who were mistreated by the Egyptians, do? In Deuteronomy 26:7, it says, “Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.”
Do not fret because if we trust God and commit every injustice meted out to us into His loving hands, the word of God says that ‘He will make our righteousness shine forth as the dawn’. He will avenge on our behalf. He is a God who avenges, a God of Justice. All we need to do is cry out to Him and He will save us.
Nevertheless, also remember, God is a forgiving, compassionate and merciful God. So, if someone who has been unjust towards anyone else repents for their mistake, God will surely forgive them. And, He expects us to forgive too – as Jesus prayed in Matthew 6:14 – “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
- HE TAKES EVIL AND TURNS IT FOR GOOD
While He is just, we also need to constantly remind ourselves that He is God – Sovereign over all. The Bible says that He never sleeps nor slumbers, even the hair on every person’s head is numbered, He knows our thoughts and the deepest secrets of our heart.
It may be the most unbearable and unpleasant thing to face at the time, but hold on because you know that the God of Justice can turn it around and work it for the best of you.
Can this Sovereign yet Just God not work all things for our good? The good news is – He has always worked it out for the good, is working it out for the good and will continue working it out for the good.
Look at Joseph’s life, which is narrated in Genesis. He was insulted and rejected by His own brothers, sold as a slave, falsely accused and thrown into prison, forgotten by those whom he saved and yet in the end, God used all of it to make him Prime Minister of Egypt and not only that, God also blessed Israel (Jacob) through him. That is why in Genesis 50 : 20, Joseph declares – “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
I have always come across God using all injustice and suffering that His people go through for their own good. He works it out for the good. It may be the most unbearable and unpleasant thing to face at the time, but hold on because you know that the God of Justice can turn it around and work it for the best of you.
With bold assurance in this fact, Paul declares in Romans 8 : 28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
He cannot overlook an unjust act, whether it is meted out to His creation or by His creation. He will act swiftly to bring justice to the one suffering.
Beloved, like Hagar and Joseph and thousand others who received justice in the face of injustice by calling out to the one who is JUST, come to this Just God who went through injustice to give you life eternal. Trust Him with your life and watch how He makes your righteousness shine forth like the dawn.
A prayer: Lord, I pray for any person reading this blog, who has faced or is facing any kind of injustice – small or big, that you come and heal their broken hearts and give them the strength to trust you. Lord, you are their avenger. I pray that you may work all things out for their good and level every uneven ground in their lives. Bless them, Lord. In Jesus’ matchless name we pray, Amen.
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HE IS ALIVE 