Justice For All
“Justice shall walk before him and prepare the way of his steps,” (psalm 85:14). Justice is a perception to us in the world. We define justice through the lens of humanity, through our own experiences and with feeling. This is a recipe for disaster. We see evidence of injustice within the justice system which is set up to be impartial and fair; it’s neither.
No matter what government system is in place, nor what time in history, humans have never been able to determine how to supply justice. It’s almost as though it is the unicorn of existence; something we all dream about and yearn for but will never have. I hear stories of people working towards justice or seeking justice but in these stories, those in the midst of the situation often are acting on emotion. Of course when we act from our feelings, we tend to over-react doing harm instead of the good we intend to do.
I have never attended a protest for anything so I can only speak to what I’ve seen on TV and we all know media can skew things. However, even when there is a peaceful protest, there is inevitably someone who feels and believes so strongly for or against the issue for which they are protesting that they make a scene. When this happens, their actions don’t shine more light on the issue and it certainly doesn’t move them closer to finding justice.
The thing is, justice is something we can seek but it is not ours to give. Justice is God’s to give. We can try our best to be fair, but again, it is based on our perception of what is fair. My belief is that only God can dish out justice and like the scripture says, justice walks before me and prepares my steps.
When I hear the words, “prepare the way,” I can’t help but think of John the Baptist, preparing the way for Jesus. John laid ground work for the people, he got people considering that things could be different. He visited the villages and towns where Jesus would eventually come and started the conversations, planted the seeds of change. I think Jesus did the same for each of us.
The day I was fired from my job, I was prepared to not make a scene. The seeds had been planted in me to stay calm, despite the inaccurate information. God has been walking with me the whole time. When word got out, there were people who were hurt and angry; they fought back and made a scene. Their actions didn’t make a difference. Though I was deeply hurt, I also knew I was in the right and what had been implied were lies. I relied on the path Jesus walked, when he had been accused of things he did not do, he understood those who were against him were not going to stop until they got what they wanted. He trusted God to bring him out as the victor. I too trusted God would make it right, eventually.
Within a couple of months, there were negative implications put upon a couple of the people who orchestrated my dismissal. It validated for me that I didn’t need to make a scene, I just needed to sit back and allow God to make what was wrong, right.
Now there are injustices in the world today that are unimaginable and yes, something must be done to make them right. However, I believe when we work to do this, we must not do it through the lens of our human experiences or emotions. The phrase, justice is blind is supposed to remind us of this fact, but unfortunately it is not a reality. I know this because of the countless people serving time in prison for crimes they didn’t commit and the indiscretion of people in the workplace or in marriages.
When we work to shine light on the injustice, we can’t do it through protest or heated arguments or pointing fingers. We will only bring light to the situations when we follow the way God prepared, through love, mercy and forgiveness. This is the only way we are able to be vulnerable enough to see the truth and it is only when truth is revealed that justice can be found.
In the end, justice will be served because only God knows all things and sees all things. God is the only one who can bring justice to all people because only God can do it impartially, without prejudice and from a place of love.
