DO YOU EVER STOP AND WONDER ABOUT THE FAIRNESS OF LIFE?
Reading
A jealous and avenging God is the Lord,
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and rages against his enemies.
The Lord is slow to anger but great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and by him the rocks are broken in pieces.
The Lord is good,
a stronghold in a day of trouble;
he protects those who take refuge in him,
even in a rushing flood.
He will make a full end of his adversaries,
and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
Why do you plot against the Lord?
He will make an end;
no adversary will rise up twice.
Like thorns they are entangled,
like drunkards they are drunk;
they are consumed like dry straw. Nahum 1:2-3, 6-10
The meditation of Nahum
Do you ever stop and wonder about the fairness of life?
I do, or at least I used to.
It’s hard not to, isn’t it,
when all around you see evil going unpunished
and good trampled underfoot?
And for years that’s precisely what we did see,
a regime as corrupt and cruel
as any you might care to imagine,
greed, envy, wickedness rampant within it,
rotten to the core.
We’d suffered it all as best we could,
but faith had worn thin and hope run dry.
‘Where was God?’ we couldn’t help asking.
‘How could he sit back and allow an empire like that to hold sway,
lording it over the nations?
It made a nonsense of everything –
our convictions,
our teaching,
our faith in God’s eternal purpose –
everything ultimately called into question.
It was impossible not to doubt,
and there were many all too willing to voice their feelings,
such was their anger and frustration
at the seeming injustice of it all.
I was the same for a time,
as confused and bitter as any;
but not any more,
for suddenly the tables have been turned,
the boot now firmly on the other foot,
and with it my faith has been restored.
It’s wrong to gloat, I know,
but wouldn’t you feel the same
if you’d been through what we faced –
your land pillaged,
your people humiliated,
your God usurped by worthless idols?
We’d had no choice but to listen to their jibes,
pander to their wishes,
but now it’s different –
at long last they must reap what they’ve sown,
stand up and give account for their crimes,
and you won’t catch me shedding any tears.
Let them pay, that’s what I say,
no sentence too harsh,
no punishment too severe.
You think me heartless?
You’re probably right.
But it’s good at last to see evil conquered and truth prevail,
to see hatred and violence put in their place,
pride heading for a fall.
I’m not saying it answers everything, not by a long way,
for there’ll be others to step into their shoes just as evil;
yet I know now, with a certainty nothing can destroy,
whatever we may face,
however hopeless it may seem,
God’s will shall triumph
and right will prevail!
Prayer
Lord,
we can’t help wondering sometimes what life is all about.
When we see the good suffer and the wicked prosper
our faith is shaken,
and we inevitably start to question.
There is so much we cannot understand,
so much that seems to contradict
everything we believe about you.
Teach us that, despite all this, you are there,
striving against everything which frustrates your will
and denies your love.
Teach us to hold on to those moments in life
when we see wrongs righted and justice done at last.
Above all, teach us to look at the cross of Christ,
and to draw strength from the victory of love
over what had seemed to be the triumph of evil.
Amen.