Do I trust God's Justice System?

It will never cease to amaze me the power that Scripture possesses to peel back the layers of our hearts. I am in a Saturday morning Bible study with a few guys on zoom and we are going through 1 Peter really slowly and intentionally. I encourage you all to read through it if you’re looking for some scripture to study. It is packed with so much. We were in Chapter 2 going through the portion of the text that was instructing us on submission to authority. I will go ahead and admit that text offended me right away but I know the Word of God is Truth. I started being flooded by memories of leadership figures and people who I gave access to my life who mishandled me. I thought about those that I’ve mishandled. I thought about relationships in my life that I felt had no closure. I thought about those who I still wanted revenge over and many situations in which I wanted vindication. All of these things were deep seated in my heart. I brought all of this before the Lord after we hung up our zoom call. I went back to the text and read it again. All of a sudden a wave of the presence of God consumed me and I just wept. It was after I read verses 21-25. Let me share it with you:

“21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:21-25 ESV

Listen! There’s so much to unpack in those scriptures and I am using a bunch of restraint right now to just let the text speak to you personally as you read it. By the way, I’m praying right now that it does just that.

There I was in my living room faced with the example of Jesus. My mind began to recount his life through Scripture and more so the Scriptures that describe the times leading up to the crucifixion. I was arrested with conviction and gratitude simultaneously. I am so grateful to follow a Savior who not only lays out what to do but perfectly models what I should follow. Jesus truly on a human level understands what my heart was feeling as I read 1 Peter. I begin to thank him for what he did for us (even those I was offended by and angry with) in his death, burial, resurrection, reappearance and ascension! I just wept. I ended up calling a brother out of the Bible study and we just begin to talk. We both had experienced similar things with people and together just embraced the toughness of how Jesus entrusted himself to the Just Judge and how we had no choice but to follow that example.

I’ll admit that after crying I sobered up and really felt the realness of that text. I asked myself, “Do you trust God’s Justice System?” The spiritual and scriptural answer to that is a resounding yes. The answer in my humanity is absolutely, NO! I want to be validated and vindicated immediately. I want people to be punished. I want to be shown as right! If i’m honest there are many situations in my life that never really have real “resolve”. For my personality type that just doesn’t work! Haha

There are times in this life where we won’t get that closure. There are times where those who wrong us just move on with life and delete your existence (or at least try to) and there’s nothing that’s done. That is a tension I am still learning to live with. I am so glad that Jesus is the Shepherd and Overseer of my soul! The comfort of that truth is what we really need. We really can trust ourselves to the one who judges justly.

There’s really no resolve I have for this post. Just wanted to share a few of the internal things going on in my heart. It’s still an ongoing thing. Don’t be surprised if I make another post one day about it.

Thank y’all for being on this journey of emptying my brain haha. I am trying to let it feel as organic as I’m thinking it live in the moment. I’m also not trying to settle things all the time in the writings. I want you to think and have your own tension. I don’t want to say “everything” which is a tendency of mine. Ok, hush Mecho!

Until next time

Demetrius