But you must return to your God,
by maintaining love and justice,
and by waiting for your God to return to you. (Hosea 12:6)
An Australian electrician took his annual holiday in the nearby Fiji Islands. He met a pretty seventeen-year-old girl named Joy and promised to marry her. She got pregnant. He ran back to Australia.
A year later, the electrician returned for another holiday of parties with minor-aged girls.
Joy confronted him. “This baby is yours, and the least you could do is help with food and diapers.”
He fled once again and left the young mother to her tears and poverty.
Dani and I tried to get justice for Joy. We met with legal counsel, waited in courtrooms, and attempted service of the summons for a paternity test. The judge berated Joy for bad decisions until she gave up in tears.
We live in a universe of absolute justice, but it is delayed justice. That electrician didn’t get away with anything and neither do I when I sin. Every misdeed is written into the books John saw in Revelation 12. We are accountable for every moment.
Joy taught me a lesson. She knew when to release her perpetrator into God’s hands. Where the human judicial system failed her, Jehovah’s great white throne will prevail. The biblical promise that every action will be judged frees me from tracking the guilt of others. I can, instead, focus on repenting from my own sins.
Joy and I have a huge advantage over the electrician. Every sin we commit is transferred to the cross of our Savior. “Unjust,” some would cry. Indeed, it is unjust that innocent Jesus suffered for guilty us. But it’s the one injustice permitted by heaven.
Prayer: Jesus my righteous Judge, I rest in your justice.