What do you tend to do when you get anxious, or eager, for wrongs to be righted, but, you do not see it happening fast enough, or even at all?
Hopefully, we maintain our trust in God, and peace, and hope, to a strong degree, even though we still might mix in various forms of doubt or despair.
Some of us might act out for justice on our own without faithfully consulting God. Some of us might begin to wonder about God’s commitment to justice, or even His power and wisdom.
Some of us might give up and give in, not knowing really what to do or not to do, what to think or what not to think about God, justice and faith. Some of us might get stuck in a state of shock and bewilderment whether for a brief time or very long time.
Yahweh Will Deliver
Proverbs 20:22 ESV “Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.”
When faced with personal injustice we are not to tell ourselves, “I will repay.” Nor, are we to tell this to others, boasting of our new holy crusade. And the last person we should tell it to is God Himself, even if it is to offer Him a share of spoils.
The admonition here is doubly emphasized in the Hebrew. This is really important: DO NOT seek revenge and DO wait upon the Lord. He has His purposes, and at the right time, in the right way, He will deliver you.
This is a promise from Him. He will protect, He will vindicate, and He will compensate. This is what we need to keep saying to ourselves, so we will not say, “I will repay.”
It is so tempting to take matters of justice into our own hands. But, God wants us to look to Him. He is perfect and all-powerful and impartial. We will mess it up with our prejudicial wrath, lack of knowledge, and we won’t really be able to get it done anyway, since we have such limited powers. His purposes and wisdom and power are beyond our understanding, and trustworthy.
Can We Wait?
We need to “wait.” And this might mean until Christ’s Return for full justice. Can you wait? And in the meantime can we even bless our enemies who curse us? Can we have such faith?
There are so many of the Psalms that can help us pray for such faith. Here is one of them.
Hopefully, we maintain our trust in God, and peace, and hope, to a strong degree, even though we still might mix in various forms of doubt or despair.
Some of us might act out for justice on our own without faithfully consulting God. Some of us might begin to wonder about God’s commitment to justice, or even His power and wisdom.
Some of us might give up and give in, not knowing really what to do or not to do, what to think or what not to think about God, justice and faith. Some of us might get stuck in a state of shock and bewilderment whether for a brief time or very long time.
Yahweh Will Deliver
Proverbs 20:22 ESV “Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.”
When faced with personal injustice we are not to tell ourselves, “I will repay.” Nor, are we to tell this to others, boasting of our new holy crusade. And the last person we should tell it to is God Himself, even if it is to offer Him a share of spoils.
The admonition here is doubly emphasized in the Hebrew. This is really important: DO NOT seek revenge and DO wait upon the Lord. He has His purposes, and at the right time, in the right way, He will deliver you.
This is a promise from Him. He will protect, He will vindicate, and He will compensate. This is what we need to keep saying to ourselves, so we will not say, “I will repay.”
It is so tempting to take matters of justice into our own hands. But, God wants us to look to Him. He is perfect and all-powerful and impartial. We will mess it up with our prejudicial wrath, lack of knowledge, and we won’t really be able to get it done anyway, since we have such limited powers. His purposes and wisdom and power are beyond our understanding, and trustworthy.
Can We Wait?
We need to “wait.” And this might mean until Christ’s Return for full justice. Can you wait? And in the meantime can we even bless our enemies who curse us? Can we have such faith?
There are so many of the Psalms that can help us pray for such faith. Here is one of them.
Psalms 25:1-3 ESV “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.”Also helpful is Jesus’ teaching from a famous parable.
Luke 18:7-8 ESV “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?””There is much to be learned about waiting for God’s justice. God lets things go for a while as He works out in mystery a glory to be revealed. He asks His People, “Can you wait? It is okay to have both faith mixed with some consternation. But, can we wait with an increasing confidence, peace, and patience?
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