Day 109 When the justice we seek is arrogrant.

Luke 18:1-6 When we want revenge/vengeance it is a cry from the heart of what little remains from being in the Garden of Eden. There was order, structure and life in the Garden. Now we live in the domain that seeks to kill, steal and destroy.

When the person we go to for justice is self important, is self sufficient, needs neither the approval of God or man, how do we get through to them? The persistent widow shows us how. What made him afraid of the woman, first she was looking for justice, for a wrong to be put right, and she wouldn't go away. How many times have we shied away from calling a situation or a person to account for their actions?

So we can say, she was a woman one wouldn't cross lightly, and this was a turning factor in the judges mind. From what I gather about my great grandmother, she would have fitted into this category! Verse 4 "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually come and attack me!' "

The unjust judge demeans her character and her case, she is not worth his time or his effort to assess a matter of deep concern and probably distress. The fact that she is a widow should have brought a quicker response from the judge as she had no husband to speak up on her behalf.

The widow was desperate to have justice and she knew how the chain of command worked.
Psalm 47:9 The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham,
for the kings of the earth belong to God;he is greatly exalted.

When we realize that the kings of the earth belong to God then we can gain perspective on how to seek what is right.

He alone is Judge! Not only the judge of our actions but also of others.
Isaiah 33:22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.

6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

"However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" This is the deeper question. God will see that they get justice, what of us? How desperate are we desperate for a wrong to be put right? Are we cultivating the faith like Abraham, of knowing that the Judge of all the earth will do what is right?

Genesis 18:25 "Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
Siobhan