Some moments have a ripple effect. As a thrown stone breaks the glassy surface of water causing rings to swell and radiate to the shore, some moments break through us and the ripples radiate for days, months, even a lifetime.
Years ago, a distinguished professor who’d been visiting our church agreed to come lead our small group for the evening. I don’t remember his initial topic that night, but as we lingered in conversation, the discussion soon turned to his travels, specifically his time in India. Tears filled his eyes as he recounted the crushing poverty and mind-boggling crowds of men and women and their children, begging in the streets all around him. His voice trembled as he described the enormity of human suffering he’d witnessed there. The heartbreaking stories he shared left mental images of miles of poverty and millions of suffering souls.
After the meeting, I pulled the professor aside and confessed how utterly overwhelmed I was after hearing his stories. I shared how I’d been strangely burdened by the concept of suffering since I was a young girl. “How can this be?” I asked him. “Where is God in the midst of all this? And how on earth can we even begin to enter in and respond to such enormous injustice and suffering?”
The mild-mannered, soft-spoken professor snapped his head toward me, his eyes piercing and focused. “No,” he declared. “Being overwhelmed by suffering is no excuse for doing nothing.” He explained that there will always be more need than we can meet. But that does not mean we aren’t called to enter in and do the things we are able to do right now. His words landed hard. They felt like a rebuke because they were. To be paralyzed by the harsh reality of suffering, to be stuck inwardly condemning global injustice while doing nothing to alleviate it, is not an option God gives us.
God doesn’t sugarcoat the pain and brokenness of the world. He calls out evil, suffering, and injustice (Proverbs 6:16–19). He shines a light on those who are lonely, abandoned, oppressed, and poor (James 1:27). He knows the desperation, the dire circumstances, and the darkness we encounter, both in global proportions and in our most intimate and personal daily struggles (Psalm 139:12). Our God knows we need rescue. And Christ scandalously declares,
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
– Luke 4:18–19
Because He has solidarity with us, we can offer solidarity to the hurting.
Because He defends us, we can defend others.
Because He is our ultimate Judge, we can fight for justice.
Because He is our hope, we can hold on to hope for ourselves and extend it to others.
Christ entered in to rescue us. And the ripple effect of that rescue goes on and on. Thanks be to God alone.
Patti Sauls lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband Scott and daughters, Abby and Ellie, where they serve alongside the people of Christ Presbyterian Church. Prior to living in Nashville, the Sauls planted churches in Kansas City and Saint Louis and served at New York City’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church. A trained speech therapist, Patti also enjoys serving behind the scenes, hiking with friends, and reading good books.
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51 thoughts on "Injustice and Justice"
Providing foster care is such a wonderful opportunity to minister to the broken and share Christ’s love generously and abundantly. What an exciting step for you! I’m only in high school now, so it will be a while, but I think I would like to be a foster parent in the future. It breaks my heart to know that kids my age and younger don’t have a good family support system to fall back on. Praying for your journey.
Caroline that is beautiful of you. Can I encourage you in something? When I was around 18 or 19 late one night I felt God impress on my heart one day I’d adopt a 10 year old girl with special needs. I began to pray for her here and there over the years….10 years later sure enough God brought our beautiful daughter to us. I encourage you to start praying for your future foster kids now.
That is beautiful!! It’s a unique call and I’m so excited when I hear other people wanting to join in on this ministry…there is such a need! Keep following Him and I know He will lead you
We recently got our license to be foster parents and this concept of fighting for injustice has weighed heavily on my heart. So many things about foster care seem broken, heavy and so unfair for these little ones…it’s heartbreaking! But what a sweet reminder that God is our defender and our hope, and we can extend that to the brokenness we encounter on this hard road.
Thank you for this!
Oops, the comment below was supposed to be a reply to you. :)
It is absolutely blows my mind how God works. My husband and I have been always said that we would foster/adopt. We are now expecting our first child (biologically), and I immediately thought, “Well, we’ll put off fostering until our baby is a little older.” A local news station posts short introductions of children that are in the foster care system in our community on Facebook. I watched one, a precious 14 year old boy who loves science and wants nothing more than a family, and wept. Like, broke down weeping. I can not get that little boy out of my head, and I strangely feel that God is telling me that His timing and is not always my timing. I was thinking about all of this when I read this entry (a day late), and then I read your comment. I know God is speaking to me about this. Please pray that He will guide us. I’m scared to death to launch into fostering with zero parenting skills and a little one on the way, but I know He’s bigger than that. Also, please pray for the 14 year old boy in foster care (his name is Corbin). He repeatedly spoke about wanting a family that would never be broken. What a precious, precious soul.
Oh my goodness! We are pregnant with our first also (unexpected miracle blessing!) I totally relate to you in this. I wrestled with God’s timing verses my own. A lot of people think we are crazy for still going through with it…and who knows, I may need to take a break soon. But God is so faithful when we step out and do what He calls us to do. I was very encouraged to see your comment and I pray for wisdom and discernment to hear from Him on this. Hugs!
We are all called to be missionaries. Some in areas of great poverty and others our mission field starts in our home and when we walk out the front door. We are missionary’s disguised as teachers, nurses, police officers, business people, lawyers, doctors, etc. and we can touch the hurting everyday if we choose to honor his call. There are hurting people everywhere. We must do what we can to financially support people who are called to help those in deep poverty, fighting the sex trade, and those who haven’t heard the good word abroad. We can adopt children through Christian ministry to allow them to do good work. If we all work together in our called mission field and support others in theirs we could see the Lord do great miracles every day. I pray that the Lord reminds me of my every day mission field and I get ready to be a missionary every day. Following him and hearing his voice to reach the hurting both in my world. Jesus lead me and remind me to support others in their ministry to theirs both here and abroad.
This was awesome, a great reminder that we are missionary’s disguised as everyday people and we can still be a light to those around us.
“Being overwhelmed by suffering is no excuse for doing nothing.”
Thank you for sharing. I too feel the suffering of the world and wonder what little ole me can do about it. I pray that the “light” within me shine brighter and brighter!
Ever since I became a Christian, I wanted to be a missionary. When I found that God was calling me to something else, I didn’t know what to do. I had exposed myself to so much suffering that I became burnt out. Like the author, I retreated and felt powerless in the face of all the injustice in the world. Now God is revealing to me that His power is made perfect in my weakness to serve those in need. I have a calling to love my husband, kids, and community. I have a calling to make and sell art that blesses customers with truth, beauty, and purpose. I’m not a missionary saving the world, I’m just a drop in the ocean. But what is the ocean made up of, if not a million tiny drops?
That is so beautiful Megan! I am an artist too and have been struggling to have God “establish the work of my hands”. Your ocean analogy is wonderful!
Prayers for you all today
As a nurse, when I stopped seeing patients in favor of the management role God opened to me I felt that somehow I had lost my way to touch suffering and make a difference. But through time God showed me also that I need to touch those standing in the shadow of the light He as given me. Those men and women I work with daily need light just as much as anyone. I struggle daily to deal with my own sin and be the light God has called me to be, in the place He has put me, to the people He has given me. May I be a better light today than I was yesterday through my savior Jesus. Amen
This is such a wellwritten text and it really hit me. I know I can help some people, but I can not help all people. This text really summarize that well. I think we as humans, when we hear of injustice, tend to want to help everyone in the world that’s suffering, but we can’t do it alone. In the midst of thee world’s chaos we need to find that thing we are meant to help with, and then do it with all of our hearts ( Ecclesiastes 9:10 – “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going”.)
xo
Agreed. I used to feel my choice of career (the classroom, not the mission field) made me somehow less of a Christ follower, especially coming from a family of missionaries. But I’ve come to realize that my classroom is my mission field. It might not be filled with hungry, penniless orphans, but even my outwardly wealthy, well adjusted students need to have Light and Love shining on them.
I’m glad you can agree and that you have come to that realization! Being a teacher is one of the most important & helpful careers in my opinion. Teachers are great because they are amongst the people in a students life that matter the most and teach them things they need to know to be able to function in life. I’m still a student & I know how important it can be with a good teacher that brings some (as you said) Light and Love into the classroom.