Psalm 11:7 (ESV)
For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
the upright shall
behold his face.
Fifty beds lined the driveway of the Heartline Ministries
in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. This makeshift field hospital ministered to the
suffering in the days and weeks following the devastating earthquake of 2010.
Among the badly wounded was a small boy named Emmanuel . . . God with us.
Emmanuel’s mother was by his side. The same earthquake that
had left her little boy’s body broken and scarred had taken the lives of her
other three children. She was utterly shattered by the grief.
Yet every night she raised her voice to lead the entire
hospital in worship to God. Grown men were reduced to tears at the sight and
the sound.
Time passed. Emmanuel’s body healed, and he and his mom
moved south to try to start over. One day the missionaries at Heartline
received a call from her: she was expecting another child. Arrangements were
made for her and Emmanuel to come to Heartline’s maternity center.
There she delivered a son, a miracle of redemption. She
named him Raphael . . . Healing God.
The missionary midwives of Heartline Ministries love to
tell the story of Emmanuel and his mother. They point to it as a powerful example
of their personal experience of Proverbs 21:15—“When justice is done, it brings
joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.”
Perhaps using the word justice here seems odd to you, but I
assure you, justice matters deeply to God. He cares passionately that His
children suffer crushing poverty. It breaks His heart that more women die in
childbirth in Haiti than anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere.
Whenever we, like the missionaries at Heartline, humbly
work to meet the needs of people like Emmanuel and his mother, we are
partnering with God in furthering His justice.
It is a partnership that demands sacrifice—the sacrifice of
our self-interest, pride, and conveniences—but Proverbs promises when we see
that “justice is done,” we will experience joy.
Ask God to open your eyes and heart today to those who are
suffering from injustice. Seek His guidance as to where and how you can partner
with Him to be a part of the solution. I promise you, He is already at work!
The Lord’s justice and joy are always on the move. All you have to do is get on
board.
Dear Lord, we pray that You would show us were and how You want
us to partner with You. In The Name of Jesus, Amen.
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