O LORD, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear? Even cry out to You, “Violence!” And You will not save. Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; There is strife, and contention arises. Therefore the law is powerless, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore perverse judgment proceeds. Habakkuk 1: 2-4, NKJV.
Gracious God, there are times that we are tempted to feel that we are victims of an unfair system, and we begin to wonder, and ask, “God are You there? At these times may we be able to hear Your voice assuring us, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
We have dealt with this question before, but under other titles. This is an issue that even Christians struggle with: If we serve a just God (and we do!); who is in control of the universe (and He is); why is there so much injustice in our world? There are a lot of answers that we produce, according to our human reasoning, in an attempt to defend God’s justice. But we really do not have all the answers, do we? That is because, this side of eternity, we do not have all the facts! As the hymn writer puts it:
I do not know why oft ’round me
My hopes all shattered seem to be;
God’s perfect plan I cannot see,
But someday I’ll understand.
Refrain:
Someday He’ll make it plain to me,
Someday when I His face shall see;
Someday from tears I shall be free,
For someday I shall understand.
But until then, like the prophet, we “ponder these things in [our] hearts” (Luke 2: 19).
During the period known as the Crisis, in my native Republic of Panama, under the cruel regime of General Manuel Antonio Noriega, people, among them Christians, were asking this question. Many individuals lost their lives, and their loved ones could do nothing about it, for fear of losing their own lives as well. They suffered in silence, but could not silence the question that was screaming for an answer in their innermost beings “Where Is Justice?”
What the prophet seems to be saying is, “I would rather not see the iniquity, if there is nothing that will be done about it! Do not allow me to witness trouble. Here I am raising my voice against the existing violence, and God seems to be turning a deaf ear to my cry!” Maybe you have felt this way sometime. I know I have. During the same period, known as the Crisis, when I would hear of some of the horror stories, I too, would ask, “Where is justice?”
To the prophet, the law seemed “powerless;” “therefore perverse judgment proceeds.” But my friends, that is just from a limited, human perspective. Because God is just – as long as God exists, justice will exist, and will one day, be the order of the day! Until then, we are not helpless! With our prayers, and our pens, and our protests against evil, we can take a stand against injustice! We have a moral obligation to call sin by its name; not only when we see it in the church, but also when we see it in the world. The prophets of old did not wink at sin! They denounced it! And so should we!
And when we have done all that we can, remember this:
I cannot tell the depth of love,
Which moves the Father’s heart above;
My faith to test, my love to prove,
But someday I’ll understand.
Though trials come through passing days,
My life will still be filled with praise;
For God will lead through darkened ways,
But someday I’ll understand.
(Lydia S. Leech).