Your day really is coming!

I’ve no idea how many times I’ve read 2nd Thessalonians in the New Testament. Rereading it the other day, one line stopped me in my tracks:

“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled…” (1:6-7, NIV)

One of the most persistent questions in life is “Why, God?” Why so much suffering in the world? Believers in Thessalonica were asking the same question, faced as they were with intense persecution for their faith.

We humans experience all forms of trouble. The musical, Fiddler on the Roof, describes the oppression one Jewish community faced in Czarist Russia more than a century ago. As Yente the Matchmaker goes about her day, she laments, “Meanwhile, we suffer, Oh, we suffer.”

Life is full of trouble. The most difficult form to grasp is when innocent people suffer.

To the suffering believers in ancient Thessalonia, Paul sends a word of encouragement. No matter what you are experiencing, hold onto this truth: God is just.

Meaning? God will make things right.

This you can count on: Whatever else in life, rest assured God will make things right.

Paul explains what he means by justice in this letter. First, those who do you wrong will be repaid. Second, you will be set free from your suffering. And third, not merely set free, you will share in God’s own kingdom and glory.

A number of things were on my mind as I read this passage the other day. Loved ones were facing dire health concerns. Friends were being mistreated. Stressful situations were festering. Gross injustices around the globe filled the news.

I read on through that chapter and into the next, thinking about how, although justice may come, it doesn’t always come when I feel it should. But, I was reminded, first things first. Before I can get a handle on delayed justice, I have to wrestle with whether God really and truly is just. Otherwise, delay doesn’t matter.

I’m in the middle of China Call: Miracles Among the Lisu (see this earlier post I wrote). British missionary Leonard Bolton tells stories of his work among China’s Lisu people a century ago. He describes how they – his family and other believers – pay dearly for their labors of love. As I am reading the stories, the suffering they experience hits me like a slap in the face.

Like me, Leonard asks, “Why, God?”

And as with me, the answer isn’t always forthcoming for him. Yet, they all – the Boltons, the Lisu believers, others – joyfully hold firm to this truth: “God is just.”

Over time I’ve come to believe that God always welcomes our hard questions. I also believe that, whether or not we get the answers we want when we want them, we can trust that God is always just. Take it from me – I’ve spent a lifetime proving this to be true.

As I keep exploring these thoughts on justice and justice delayed, sign up here so you don’t miss any updates.

Photo: Yente the Matchmaker (1971)