Ezekiel 34:16 “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.”

God knows how to take care of His people! In this chapter and elsewhere the Bible talks about the failures of human leaders, and then it tells us that God has no such failures. On a geopolitical scale we are seeing this right now, with the Jews being brought back to Israel and the old being nurtured. That is of course very encouraging to every discerning believer as a sign the Lord’s return is not far off, but this is true on a strictly personal level as well. The devil is always out to steal, kill, and destroy in relation to God’s people, (John 10:10) but God has not forgotten them. I read just yesterday of how, with COVID-19 restrictions being lifted, mobs of Hindus in India are attacking Christians, taking out their frustrations on them. A pastor was severely beaten for the “sin” of praying for someone’s healing in the name of Jesus! There is much in the world today that is not fair or just, but God has not forgotten us, and we must never forget that. In the final analysis, justice will be served on God’s scale, and that is always better than anything we could come up with.

I have just read a draft of a brief biography of my father, who came to Japan as a missionary in 1934, was interned by the Japanese for the first 6 months of WWII and then sent to the US on a prisoner exchange ship, lived through the war ministering to ethnic Japanese in the US, and then returned to Japan in 1947. I’m sure that justice was very big in his mind and heart throughout that period, but he yielded it to God. I have only encountered a small fraction of the injustice my father endured, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t bristled at some of the things I have seen and heard and experienced. The key for me is first of all to believe that God is still in control, just as He was in WWII. With that foundation, I am to offer myself as an instrument of God’s justice, but not try to take things in my own hands to impose justice by my standards. Right now justice is being used as an excuse for all sorts of wrongs. Reading and hearing the news can be quite depressing! I’ve got to remember that Jesus is the Great Shepherd, and He will make everything right. (Hebrews 13:20, 1 Peter 5:4) Whatever else I do, I am to keep praying that God’s name be acknowledged as holy and His kingdom come as His will is done, right here and in every circumstance, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for being able to participate in the production of my father’s biography. I pray that it would be a blessing and an inspiration to all who read it, pointing people to You and giving You glory. Thank You. Praise God!