For I, the Eternal, love justice. I hate stealing and all manner of wrongdoing. In faithfulness to those who do justice, I promise they will be rewarded for their work; and I will establish an everlasting covenant with them. Furthermore, I will promise them My support for their children, so that all nations and everyone around will see that they are the children blessed by the Eternal God. – Isaiah 61:8-9 (The Voice)
I couldn’t figure out why everything she touched turned to gold and I seemed to just be, well…suffering.
She chose the panel with a million dollars behind it every time and I always chose the one with a penny.
She would have unsolicited job offers land on her lap and I would fight hand, tooth, and nail to get even just one.
Her husband was her college sweetheart and they lived in complete happiness and joy. Pretty much always.
The thing is, I love her dearly. She’s a good friend of mine. I asked God to examine my heart and reveal if there was any unconfessed jealousy going on.
“I don’t understand why I keep experiencing really traumatic stuff and she has never walked through anything even remotely close,” I lamented to Him on an evening of particular frustration.
In essence, again, it’s the whole “But, why?” question.
At the time, He revealed to me that our stories are precisely that – ours. Hers is hers and mine is mine and they’re not going to look the same because we weren’t put on this earth for the same purpose. God creates each of us to fulfill a purpose that only we can fulfill and no one else.
“Stop looking sideways and start looking up,” He revealed.
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. – Ephesians 2:1
Apparently, the work He prepared for me to do involves a bit of suffering to get the job done right. But there’s hope.
In Verse Eight, God tells us directly that He “love justice.” In just the verse prior, He also says that “you will inherit a double portion of prosperity and everlasting joy.”
He’s not messing around with the justice thing – there are over 55 verses in the Bible that involve this topic alone.
And just to clarify, when I think of “justice” I think of those who are defending the case of the orphan and pleading the case of the widow.
Which IS justice – but not the “only” type of justice. In some ways, it can simply be doing what is honorable and fair. And God loves that.
He also goes on to state that He “hates stealing and all wrongdoing” but will reward those who, in faithfulness, act justly – and their children will be as well.
This week while studying these two scriptures, it came to me that suffering is inevitable. In fact, we are told it WILL happen at some point. (Yes, even to my friend I discussed earlier.)
It’s what we DO with the suffering that matter to Him.
Do we take-on a “woe is me” heart and complain constantly and become “Debbie Downer”? Do we become bitter? Do we refuse to trust ever again and therefore not allow others to get too close because by golly, we just won’t let that happen again now, will we?
No. He wants us to take our suffering and wrap it up in a package of justice. He wants us to make it honorable and fair.
He wants us to use it because it’s part of the work He prepared in advance for us to do.
It’s part of our story, sisters.
So it’s with complete truth that I tell you that I’m quite grateful for “The Year of Hell on Earth”- what I affectionately like to call the year of 2001.
I can assure you I wouldn’t believe what I do today without the events that led to that hell on earth.
He leaves nothing in vain. If we walk through the fire and become so refined in the process (and we will if we follow Him) He plans for us to use it for His glory.
He wants the glory because every good and perfect gift comes from above. (James 1:17) To not give Him the glory would be like me taking the words of Ann Voskamp, claiming them as my own, then accepting the enthusiastic praise of others without correcting.
Not to mention that when we glorify Him, when we share stories and say things like “by the grace of God” or “glory to God”, we are showing others the healing redemption that can only come from Christ.
And that, my friends, is the most effective form of evangelism on the planet.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. – James 1:2-4
What are your thoughts on this or anything else that surfaced for you during the week?
(And you don’t have to be an “official” part of the group to comment and add your thoughts – we want to hear from you!)
Thanks for these words, Natalie. I’ve also been wrestling with these kinds of questions , jealousy, and discouragement . . . even just tonight in conversation with someone dear to me who is feeling the same way. I never know what to do, and I keep wanting to ask the “why?” question because I want it to make sense. I know what God says is true, but I’m finding it difficult to reconcile what I see with what His Word says I’m to see (and believe).
All that is probably pretty vague – but I wanted to say thanks for your encouraging words.
No, not too vague – I’m getting your drift.
When I start to spend too much time thinking about the stuff that doesn’t make sense to me, I go back to the Hebrews 11:1 verse: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
We don’t “see” what we can’t understand because His ways aren’t our ways sometimes. (I’m not preaching at you here, sister. This is the self-talk I use.)
There’s also a really good book that I haven’t completely finished but is WONDERFUL. It’s called If God Is Good: Faith In The Midst Of Suffering And Evil and it’s by Randy Alcorn. I once had it but I gave it away; otherwise, I’d offer you my copy!
Thank you for reading and commenting, friend.
This is a topic that is always relevant! Because there is suffering, and we believers seem to get the short end so often. It feels so unjust that we should encounter grief when we have been redeemed at such a high cost. We’re on the winning team, right!? But, as I was explaining (or trying to) to my 11 yr old son the other day – he was suffering with a stomach bug – everything in God’s Kingdom is upside down, or backwards, to this natural world. That’s why it’s so hard to understand. That His perfect Justice can look so very much like tragedy to our human eyes… Thanks, Natalie!
Thanks Natalie for putting this session together. I have not had time to come read this session because of traveling and work making it not a good time to have good quiet time. This morning, I made time and love each word that was written. Giving God the glory for using you to bring these words, scriptures for me to read. I have been doing real good trusting God but this week, not sure because of the very busy week and being extra tired that I found myself questioning or looking at others and asking, why can’t I have that or thought about that. But, I probably would have continued to go down that “woe is me” (like that) but I thank God for letting me realize the downward spiral of questions that was being asked and stopped and prayed. Sometime it was too late because I either became unglued and realized after that was not the right way to respond. But I prayed for forgiveness for my attitude and prayed for peace and guidance. It is amazing how you become humble and the peace that comes with it when you trust Him. You become a better person than staying bitter.
Although I know that each of us are here to fulfill our own purpose on earth sometime it is easy to forget. I love the quote, “Stop looking sideways and start looking up”. How simple yet profound. If we would only remember to do this daily it seems we would be in a much better place.
The James 1:2-4 scripture was given to me a little over a year ago and has resurfaces several times. Another reminder that God has everything under control and nothing that we go through will be in vain. He will use all our trials and suffering to mold and shape us into the person He has placed us here to be.
My desire is to be aware of the opportunities that He places in my path to allow His light to shine through me to someone else. To be able to comfort someone that is going through something similar.
Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your wonderful group and allowing the Lord to work through you to help us all to grow.
The following time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as a lot as this one. I imply, I do know it was my choice to learn, but I truly thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you possibly can fix in the event you werent too busy in search of attention.
Thanks so much for providing individuals with an exceptionally memorable opportunity to read critical reviews from this site. It’s always very useful and also jam-packed with a lot of fun for me personally and my office peers to visit your website more than 3 times in a week to learn the fresh secrets you will have. And indeed, I’m always happy with all the unique ideas you serve. Some 1 points in this posting are definitely the very best we’ve ever had.
Yup, you are correct Google is the best in favor of blogging, Google blog as well come up to rapidly in search engines too.