Break free from Injustice.

The way of peace they do not know;
there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
no one who walks in them will know peace.

So justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.

Like the blind we grope along the wall,
feeling our way like men without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
among the strong, we are like the dead.

We all growl like bears;
we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
for deliverance, but it is far away.

For our offenses are many in your sight,
and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
and we acknowledge our iniquities:

rebellion and treachery against the LORD,
turning our backs on our God,
fomenting oppression and revolt,
uttering lies our hearts have conceived.

So justice is driven back,
and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.

Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
The LORD looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.
Isaiah 59:8-15



This entry is from a girl's blog where she is in Ethiopia teaching. But, I can relate so well to how she describes her experiences and struggles.




"It is easy to see how far off the path the world has strayed from the will of God, how far we have come from the perfect world he created. I cannot imagine seeing all the problems in the world without the hope that God is redeeming it. That he cares deeply about injustice. The poor, the sick, the hungry. To look at the world and not believe he is soveriegn and that the work above all the evil, that in faithfulness you will bring forth justice, you will not falter or be discouraged until he establishes justice on earth. It would be such a hopeless place without faith that someday he is coming back and that until then he wants us to lose the chains of injustice and untie the chords of the yoke, to set the oppression free and break every yoke, to share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter, and when you see the naked, to clothe them. These are just some of the passages that help me get through the times of discouragement and overwhelming feelings of smallness and helplessness against the giant problems. I have to remind myself that I am only given myself this one life, these few opportunities to bring good for my life and do something to stop and reserve the evil and injustice that I see going on outside my window each and every day. It's a great reminder and a strong challenge to be able to be spending my life on behalf of the poor and suffering. To really make the most of every opportunity and to seek God's heart with every thought and action. It's a really hard charge he has given us, but bothly I am making harder steps, closer in line with God every day. And luckily, we have this power to rely on every day because it's too much for just me. I know there are so many people doing so much good in this city and all over the world, but it is going to take so much more then we are doing now. I know that I can be doing more, really spending myself on behalf of those in need with the love of Jesus and temperal provisions here on earth. It's harder to avoid thinking about affliction, poverty and injustice when it is looking me in the face 100 plus times a day. Each face makes me question myself. Am I really doing everything I can? Am I making sacrifices that I really feel? Giving of myself so much I can feel? Spending everything I have been given to seek God's purposes accomplished? Or am I holding back? Riding the border between selfishness and selflessness? That makes me think alot about my daily life and my future. Am I bringing the absolute most good I possibly could all the time? What more could I be doing? Am I serving in a place where I can bring the most good for change? Where does God want me? Where does he want me to be? Am I willing and able to go there and be that person? Am I really willing to abandon everything to what God asks for? Serve him and seek him with everything I have? These are just some of my musings and they don't really make any conclusion. But, they are the thoughts that keep me up at night. Whatever conclusions these thoughts lead me to, I know that God is shaking me free. The remaining complacency that is sitting me on the sidelines, just watching the world crumble further and further without stepping out. Giving all, just to stop one more little piece from falling."