Bloodthirsty for Justice

Well, my friends, here I am again. It's been a crazy few months, what with finishing up a semester of school, helping marry off my best friend and roommate Megan Noel Hoover, nee Collins, and moving to a new city for the summer and starting my work/internship.

Strange. I've learned over the years that God brings times of intense spiritual growth, and times that are wintery and seemingly pointless and deadening. Before the uproar at Bryan began, every day I woke to a new understanding of and love for God. But along with many other students, I was shaken by the events that transpired, and while it was also a good reminder of the “death to self” lesson I had pondered earlier in the semester, it was not a pleasant time. Added to that mental constraint was the knowledge of becoming an RA this next year, and the increase in wisdom and discernment I'd need to guide 40ish girls (along with my absolutely wonderful co-RA, Kristin Hall), as well as be an example of forgiveness and patience to everyone else on campus.

Yet there is no doubt, there cannot be, that God has been so good to me during all of this. I've always been one to fight for justice, and I believe God often calls us to take up that battle fiercely at times (I think of William Wilberforce, particularly; his story has always been very convicting and inspiring to me). But also realizing that in the end, God is the only one who can bring justice. It not simply a matter of “letting God be the avenger,” as if it's a privilege we bestow on him. No indeed!

Let me repeat: God is the only one who can bring justice.

Perhaps it gets lost in the shuffle of extremes, but God's justice is ultimately for the sake of redemption and healing. And yet justice is blood-thirsty; quenchable only by the blood of Christ. Read through Isaiah in one sitting if that is lost on you. 

Our justice also varies with God's in that God is just to all. The aggressor and the victim, the broken and the proud, the complacent and the combative. God's justice applies to all, and so His love is extended to all. Also, the preceding categories are never so clear-cut, and often, neither alternative is without fault. Only God searches the innermost being of a man. Only God knows what will bring complete redemption.

There are so many areas in my life that need God's justice to be brought. Right now I'm waiting, praying, and seeking to clothe myself as Paul describes in Eph 6:10-20, to be ready to do anything at the word of God.

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“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”