Gracefull Response...To Injustice

If you haven't experienced injustice yet—real bonafide injustice—you will. It's inevitable.

Do you know how to respond to injustice? When it happens to someone else? When it happens to you? When it happen to someone you love?

I've personally known quite a few who have experienced it and several who are currently experiencing injustice:

A wife of a leader in a church whose creative ideas, songs, and products were kept by the church because it was seen as "a part of the job".

A songwriter and worship leader whose latest CD contained a song a famous church wanted to buy. She wouldn't sell, but was glad to share it. They refused and wrote their own—with just enough changes so that they wouldn't get in trouble with the laws.

A man who contracted Hepatitis in prison, later set free because he was proved innocent. Not a single penny paid in retribution for seriously miscarried justice.

A three-year-old who told her mother she was being sexually molested by her father and grandfather, but who is still being abused two years later because she is in shared-custody of the father because the judge knows the family and everyone else is afraid of them.

I could go on and on. I too have experienced my fair share of it: from a previous husband who was addicted to pornography, cheated, and ran up thousands of dollars in debt in my name that I was unaware of to a more recent event in which promises were made in an effort to get us to move, but in the end resulted in all of our savings lost.

Promises made, only to be broken. Squashing creativity. Taking credit for others' successes. Failures of the justice system. Failures of a culture that refuses to practice honoring the image of God in others. Failure to fear God.

What is a graceful response to injustice?

When injustice happens to someone who is not immediate family, I tend to let myself get steamed up. I know the Bible says vengeance is His, but I think He often uses those outside the situation to right the wrong. My example in this would be an injustice that might happen to an immigrant, the innocent, or some form of racism. I'd be happy round up everyone I know up to make sure their needs are met and the love of Christ poured out, but I stop short of advocating revenge or retribution.

When an injustice happens to someone in my immediate family or to myself (because if it happens to them, it might as well happen to me), I refrain. I refrain from an emotionally charged response. I talk with a wiser (read: cooler) head than mine. I don't dash off that emotionally charged email or rant post. I don't get a group together to protest (though I have been known to do so over injustice to others).

I have found that if I take on the fight to give retribution or to get "what is rightfully mine," I may very well win a small fight, but lose the larger battle.

Instead, I let it go and surrender it to God. Then, to make sure my heart follows my actions, I practice gratefulness. Gratefulness is the immunization to bitterness. Gratefulness is a grace that comes when the fear of God meets the recognition of just how awful we are without Him.

This frees God Himself to respond. Until we get out of the way, He can't move. And, trust me, I've seen God move time and time again. Checks in the mail sort of thing. Money into my pocket to compensate for my own losses. Houses that sell for more than ask. You can trust Him to bring justice and right the wrongs. That's His job. He says so Himself:

"Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord." — Romans 12:17-19

If you are experiencing injustice, this verse is for you.

How do I stop being angry or bitter?

If you find that you have a pre-disposition to bitterness and anger or you see that everyone is always "against" you, then recognize the common denominator is yourself. With diligent practice of surrender to the Holy Spirit, you can learn wise responses that come from the Fear of God, freedom from the tyranny of anger by walking intimately with the God Who Purchased Your Freedom, receive and give forgiveness, and walk in gratefulness for all that God does and who He is.

Grace brings freedom.

Note: The above does NOT mean that someone shouldn't LEAVE an abusive situation or toxic environment. Please leave! It just means that it should be done out of gratefulness to God that there are options and people to support you, not bitterness and vengeance. If you or a loved one are experiencing suffering and injustice, please contact me. Or someone wiser than me.