The Timing of Justice

Job 24:1 “Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?

The ‘when’ of justice is often a sticking point for us as we travel through this life. We see obvious injustice and wonder why someone isn’t doing something to correct the situation. When will the wrong be punished? When will the innocent be vindicated?

We see it in political life. Some people seem to get a free pass while others get nailed for nothing. I don’t want to get political, but justice just isn’t happening.

And it happens in the business world. Take a look at the orders during this lockdown. The government is choosing who can do business and who can’t, who will stay afloat and who will go under. How is this fair? Isn’t the livelihood of everyone important? Don’t we all have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

Well, I want you to know that this battle between justice and injustice, and the timing of that justice has been around probably as long as humans have been here.

Job is in the fight of his life. His friends have not been friends. Instead of comfort they have brought pain. They continue to accuse Job of sin. They say that the LORD is being just in punishing Job, so it is time for him to repent.

But Job looks around and sees plenty of injustice going on and the LORD is not showing up and bringing justice. The next eleven verses in our text give example after example of sins that are going unpunished. No justice is happening at that moment.

Job is pointing out to his friends, and to us, that the timing of justice is not always the timing we would choose. We want what we think is justice to happen immediately after the injustice. We don’t want to have to wait for it. We are the instant gratification people, after all.

So when you see injustice not happening in your timing, you have several options. Fight like crazy for justice, trust the LORD to bring justice, or some combination of the two. I am sure there are some other options as well that haven’t come across my mind.

I think Job would say, “Do justice yourself.” We are responsible for our actions and reactions. We might not be able to create a just world as a whole, but we can help bring justice to our little corner of that world. We can live a life of justice in our dealings and interactions. We can be people of justice.