Justice

    When someone does us wrong, what do we typically want for them? You may want to say "we need to love those who wronged us" as this is what many Christians are taught. However, in our humanity, we want them to ultimately pay for what they have done. The truth is that there may come a time where you feel that what someone was given in regards to a consequence for what they have done is not enough. I am saying this because I am in that boat right now. 

    Right now, I realize that wanting the consequences to be more than what they are won't change the situation. We can be angry about what the person who wronged us has done. We can also be angry about the suffering in this world. Why do people suffer is a common question that it seems like everyone asks. For me, I wonder why this world allows for children to be so horrifically abused before they take any action. Survivors of abuse have to deal with not just the healing that needs to take place, but the justice system for their whole lives after any action is taken to protect them as well.  Something this big is a major problem in society; however there are other things that just don't seem fair as well. It sucks when it seems like someone did not receive fully what we think they deserved. 

    During this time, it is something I have wrestled with as I have heard some hard news. I spent a day just crying because that was the grief, the anger, and the fear I felt. I knew that I needed to turn to God. I decided to turn on my hymns on Spotify. This Is My Father's World turned on, and I just listened to the song on repeat. This song reminded me that this is not the world of the person who hurt me, nor is it my world, but it is the world of the Almighty and All Powerful God. The Lord is ruler over everything, and in the end God's glory will be shown. It won't be the person who hurt me, nor the impact it has on me. God is glorified meaning that the light will outshine any darkness from the terrible sinful actions of anyone. God reminded me that he was the perfect Judge and the perfect Giver of Mercy. 

    He also made me realize that I would never feel like the person who hurt me has paid the price of the pain he caused me. The price I want him to pay was already paid when Jesus took that sin on the cross. What he did to me would also be perfectly judged on the day that God judges him. We may not ever understand the consequences God will give, but we can just have hope in the fact that God is all-knowing in everything he does and that justice will always be served even if it is not here on Earth. When someone sins against us, just as when we sin, we need to realize the power of the cross. The power of the cross makes it so we don't have to carry the weight of the sin of the person who wronged us. The weight can be lifted off our shoulders as it was already given to Jesus when he conquered sins.  

    The cross showed the wrath that is to come all coming down on Jesus. God's anger towards those who hurt his children will allow for justice to be served. On this side of eternity, we may feel like justice will never be served. However, on the side of heaven, perfect judgement is shown as God is perfect in everything he does. God will judge, so we don't need to desire revenge or punishment for those who wronged us. Justice is not my place to be in, it is God's. The situation where it seems like there will never be enough justice served here on Earth will be served in heaven. We can be easily angered by the injustices of this world, but where there is God, there is freedom. It is not our place to judge as much as it is God's. Our place is to proclaim the Gospel that we are sinners in need of God's saving, and God sent Jesus to die the death we deserved from our sins so that we could live forever with God. It is this truth that allows for repentance and worship of God throughout our lives. Worship is not just a moment, it is a lifetime.