Every day we are forced to ask the question, ‘is there any justice in this world,’ and as humans, we tend to think there isn’t any. We question whether God really sees what is going on, and how can He let His people suffer. We believe that we would do a better job at meting out justice; and looking at what is going on in the world today, shows that we humans are doing a terrible job.
Over the last few months, my devotional plan has had me reading the book of Job every Wednesday. I am now at the last few chapters, and it is finally making sense. Job, and his friends, question God, question justice, question the consequences of sin, and think they know the answers. God then sets Job straight. He asks him if he was there when the world was created; did he decide how the animals behave; and how can he annul God’s judgement? Through this, God never answers the question concerning Job’s suffering.
What the book of Job calls us to do is to trust in God’s wisdom. The MacArthur Study Bible says; “This is at the heart of the real issue. The wisdom of God which created and sustains the universe is at work in Job’s suffering also.” We fallible humans cannot run the universe. We think we know better than God, but our perspective is minute compared to what God sees and knows. He sees the beginning and end of this great human experiment. He sees our hearts. He will judge the sin in this world. And His justice is true.
Where does this leave us now? We watch, and engage in, the endless fights for justice. The endless litany of ‘equity, inclusivity and diversity’ has taken over our social media pages and the nightly news. We humans believe we understand what justice is all about. The tragedy in all of this, is that we believe that we know better than God. God has been replaced. The irony in all of the justice movements we see is the endless hate and condemnation that humans attach to their fight. The view of justice is narrow, yet it is all-encompassing.
As Christians we need to ask the question, do we trust God’s justice? Or do we believe that the social justice warriors of this world have the answer? I believe that this fight of good and evil has taken the church away from trusting God, and replacing Him with our own ideas of justice, and those views reflect our culture, not God’s Word. We don’t trust Him anymore. In our fight for a ‘better world’ we forget that sinners cannot create a better world, but it will get increasingly sinful, until God finally says ‘it’s enough.’
The answer we need to have concerning the end is, ‘are we ready’ for that day? Do we know where we will spend eternity? Will it be with God, or will it be a banishment? Do we trust that He knows the answers, and that we might never know? That is the real question of faith…trusting in Him. Trusting in His love. Trusting in His forgiveness of our sins. And trusting that He knows what is happening, and He has a plan.
Our role as humans is really quite simple. We need to acknowledge that we are sinners, repent of our sins, and trust that God will be there with us to the end.
John 5:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”