Injustice turned to blessings!
Verse for Today: Thursday, April 26, 2012
Psalms 82:3 – Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
We find movements in political and diplomatic circles for justice, equality and fraternity especially aiming at the poor, weak, fatherless, widows, oppressed and destitute. We hear slogans for good governance which tries to guarantee minimum means for the underprivileged. But these efforts and slogans remain ineffective and underachieved because there is no justice in this world. When God’s servants like Asaph find such injustice, they cry unto the Lord to do something about it. The present scenario of oppression and injustice is the result of sin in the world. It is the sinfulness of man that ends up in oppressing the weak and showing injustice to the underprivileged. We have victim of the lack of justice all the time and all around us and some of us are part of the depraved. All God’s children are somehow victims of the oppression of the ungodly against them. The example we have in front of us is the voice of the suffering Savior on the cross to His Father to forgive His oppressors and the persecutors. Both Stephen and Paul followed the example of our Lord to pray for forgiveness for the oppressors. But God uses such unfortunate turn of events like oppression and injustice that you we suffer today to help us grow in patience and become mature in our walk with the Lord. When we suffer injustice, we are instructed to follow the example of Jesus to show love and forgive the oppressors. Perhaps our patience will be misinterpreted by our oppressors as weakness on our part. But our patience and humility when ill-treated is power under control and subjection to Jesus and His Spirit.
Dear reader, are you experiencing injustice and ill-treatment from those around you? Are you being oppressed and deprived by those whom you serve at the workplace? Perhaps you are suppressed by those who are dear to you, like a member of your family. It is likely that they encroach into your privacy and spread lies about you. But rest assured that your Lord knows all about it and that He will give you the strength to withstand the pressures of such injustice. If you are denied justice by your kith and kin, meditate on the life and experience of Joseph and Moses. If your employers are treating you wrongly, meditate on the life of Daniel and the three Hebrew youth. If people in your Fellowship deny justice to you, meditate on the life and experience of Paul. If the people who benefited from you treat you wrongly, meditate on the persecution suffered by our Lord Jesus Christ. If your friends come to accuse and find fault with you, meditate on the life and experience of Job. If people want to shut your mouth because you tell the truth, meditate on the life of Jeremiah. If others are jealous of you, meditate on the experiences of David. When you want to stand for the Lord, you will always have opposition. But even if all your dear ones and associates forsake you, the Lord will not. He will stand with you and walk with you. He will help you to endure the pressures of a hostile environment and learn lessons in life. He will show you how He alone will stand with you when all others forsake you. He will strengthen your faith and help you to trust Him alone when you suffer injustice. But your Lord will reward you for all of the injustice that you encounter. He will help you to smile in the storms which others create for you. His grace is sufficient for you to become stronger through these tough and rough experiences in life so that you will learn to lean on to the Lord and get lost in His love.
Matthew 5:10 – Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Thought for Today
God’s children experience peace in their hearts when they are ill-treated and oppressed by the world.
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