June 12 – God of Justice (Isaiah 30:18)

“Many seek an audience with a ruler, but it is from the Lord that man gets justice.”(Proverbs 29:26)

IN WORD:
God loves justice, and we who have been created in His image love to see things work out in a way that is fair for everyone. We hate inequity, especially when we’re on the short end of the imbalance. No matter how many times someone tells us that life isn’t fair, we still want it to be. We’re afraid we might not get our piece of the pie.
Our sense of fairness is really rankled when God’s timing does not equal our own. We’re hardly content with the thought that things will be made right at the judgment seat of Christ. That’s too far off in the future. And what if the offender repents! Then there’s never any payback, just a free ride. Never mind that we received the same free ride the day we accepted Jesus’ sacrifice. When we’re offended, we’re all for justice.
Such indignation has led us throughout the centuries to establish all sorts of courts and punishments. And God would have it so; He is never in favor of chaos in this world. To the degree that our justice systems reflect His standards, they are pleasing to Him. But they are never perfect, and they don’t handle our every grievance. We are left, at least with some offenses, either to steam and stew about them or to let them go and forgive, trusting god to handle them well. We often choose the anger over the trust. God seems much less urgent about our complaints than we are. We want restitution now.

IN DEED:
How do you make things right when you’ve been wronged? Revenge is not a biblical option; God insists that vengeance is His, not ours. And perfect fairness is not a biblical option either; we who have received a clean slate from our Savior can have no complaints against our God of justice. Justice once directed at us was poured out on Another. We can hardly insist that others must receive it.
Does that bother you? Relax. God will make all things right, in His time and in His way. He is patiently waiting for all who will repent; a verdict now would be premature. Seek justice now, when appropriate, but don’t place your hope in it. God’s is worth waiting for.

“God’s justice guarantees that ultimately all that is unfair will be dealt with.” -Joseph Stowell-