I know a man who has been in a long-suffering trial for over
a decade. Although not a perfect man, he
is a man who has loved and served our Lord since he was born. He openly
demonstrates love for his family with tenderness and compassion, and fiercely
tries to protect them from harm. He reaches out selflessly to the poor and
needy, he works hard, and is rising successfully at his work in high esteem
with those who work beside him. And yet,
he is in a bone-wearying, heart-gripping, ugly trial that seems to go from bad
to worse. He is now crying out to our God, as David did in the Bible, “Where is
your justice Lord? Please make your justice reign in this lifetime! ‘Tear out, O Lord, the fangs of the Lions’! “
As the buds and blossoms begin to swell on the bushes and
trees around us, as the creamy pink-tinged blossom of the hellebores begin to
show themselves once more, God shows his majesty and ability to triumph through
the cold, and create loveliness through-out the hard long winters of our lives.
He is there. He is constant. And yet, and yet... sadly, winters can continue to be brutally
on-going for some, even while beauty blooms along the way.
King David says in
Psalm 62:11-12, “One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: that you O
God, are strong, and that you O Lord are loving. Surely you will reward each
person according to what he has done.” King David cried out to our God in agony
for Him to smite his enemies, but he continued to believe, to his very core, that God
is strong, God is loving, and God is righteous.
For those of you who find themselves in a trial that takes
you to your knees and keeps you there until you feel you cannot stand up again, we serve a God who has been there. He has taken the willful,
ugly sins of others onto himself, and as my friend Lois says, “Is offering a
nail-pierced hand to you", to lift you up. There will be joy and new beginnings, there will be a lightness in your day once more, and yes, there is justice, even in this fallen world.
