Injustice

Injustice. What does it mean? Is it only a legal term? Is it only when one person wrongs another? Can Injustice be more than doing wrong? Can it be neglecting to do something too? Injustice happens to us all. Good people, bad people, poor people, rich people. Evil is all around us and at some point we will all face some form of injustice. Injustice hurts deep and revenge sounds so good, but there is always purpose in our pain. Our job is to take the injustice we have faced and show others how Christ carried us in our darkest days. I think about addiction, homelessness, poverty...we are so quick to judge those who are "strung out" or begging on the side walk but we fail to ask what injustice brought them to that place. The 28 year old woman who can't hold a job and is hooked on pain pills...we need to ask ourselves what caused her so much pain that she felt the need to get high for the first time? That 28 year old woman could have easily been me. I left the hospital without my baby and a handful of prescriptions. They literally asked "what do you want?". I can promise you that if I didn't have a supportive family and a deep rooted faith I could have easily been her. The first few weeks for me were unbearable. Getting out of bed was a daunting task and didn't always happen. If I didn't have David physically putting me in the shower, washing my hair, brushing my hair, feeding me...I don't know how I would have survived. Mama called me every weekend when David went fishing and made sure I was doing something and eating. My church family was incredible with calls and messages. People I barely knew were lifting me up in prayer. I had support. I was raised in a Christ centered home with parents who lived out an example of faith. Maybe the other 28 year old wasn't as fortunate. The other woman could have been from a broken home, maybe didn't have a baby daddy in the picture and had absolutely no knowledge of Christ. I can't imagine not knowing God but I do know if I didn't have the faith to know, as painful as it was, that God had my baby girl, numbing the pain would be my first response. I would take every prescription they sent me home with and pop every pill to try and numb the pain. I can't imagine facing anything without God. I can't imagine not knowing Him because I have known Him my whole life. Not everyone is that fortunate...some people are dealt an incredibly tough deck from the start . It's our jobs to show how Christ carried us through our darkness. If we neglect to show others what Christ has done for us, we are doing Him an injustice. He carried us in our darkness and we need to show others that same love when they are broken. We need to not judge where people are and ask how they got there. The truth is most people in those helpless situations have faced situations similar to ours. Sometimes it takes a tragedy for people to find Him...sometimes it's the only way they ever come to know Him. Everyone will face an injustice. We as Christians are fortunate enough to know we have a loving God who can carry us....we have to help others see it too.