This world seems a terribly unjust place.  As I hear from my black friends stories of their terror at a simple traffic stop because of all the shootings that have been reported, I cry at this world’s injustice.  As I hear from woman after woman who identifies with the #MeToo movement, and not a few males as well, I cry at this world’s injustice.  As bullying ruins lives, and self-righteousness ruins relationships, and the global sex-slave trade continues unabated, I cry at this world’s injustice.

We can choose who to blame.  Many blame “the world” and it’s sinful selfishness, for every one of these has it’s roots in people putting their own needs and wants above those of others.  Many blame “society” that teaches us unabashedly to put ourselves first, to solve problems with violence, and to seek pleasure above all else.  And many blame God who is in charge of this whole mess and should be stepping in to solve some of these problems rather than making His Children (us) do it as His representatives.  With the people of Malachi’s 2nd chapter, they cry, “Where is the God of justice?”  (My guess is that they wouldn’t be very happy with God’s answer to that question through Malachi.

Paul asks this same question for his readers in today’s reading:  “Is God unjust?”  But Paul’s answer is a bit more pensive than God’s in Malachi.  Paul’s answer is this: it is God who defines what justice is, so He is inherently just.  We can’t allow the world to define justice for us, for the world doesn’t know what true justice is.  It changes it’s mind and it’s definition regularly.  And it punishes every breach of it’s standard with corporate shame and judgement, exacerbated by social media.

The next time you find yourself questioning God’s justice, maybe what you are really questioning is God’s timeline.  God promises that the unrighteous will face punishment, and that the victims, the poor, the widows and orphans, the oppressed of this world will have their rewards, but in His time, not ours.  So the next time we think God is allowing child abuse, or bullying, or anything else on our list of injustices, lets remember that His timeline is not ours, and that Justice is itself defined by God’s will, plan, and behavior.

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