47 Days of Justice 2024 - Day 29: Don’t forget about those who are suffering injustices.

“Meanwhile, the Midianite traders arrived in Egypt, where they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭37:36‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In 1962, Skeeter Davis recorded the song, “The End of the World.” Here are some of the lyrics:

“Why do the birds go on singing?

Why do the stars glow above?

Don't they know it's the end of the world?

It ended when I lost your love

I wake-up in the morning, and I wonder

Why everything's the same as it was

I can't understand, no, I can't understand

How life goes on the way it does….”

The sentiment expressed in the song is that of a person who has lost a great love. Now he can’t understand how the whole world isn’t grieved with him. How can the world be carrying on as usual?

Now, we all know that lost-love songs are very dramatic, probably overly dramatic. But I think many of us can identify with the feeling being expressed.

Indeed, I have had things going on in my life: loss, grief, suffering, etc., and turning on the TV, seeing game shows with people laughing and having a great time, it somehow felt surreal. Although I knew it was irrational, it felt “wrong” that they weren’t sharing my crisis. It’s not that I wanted them to be suffering. It’s just, how could they not know? Now, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m genuinely happy for you; but if you ever experience it, you’ll understand.

You see, as we have noted before, suffering is very personal. We may be sorry that someone is suffering; but we are not nearly as sorry as is the sufferer.

Think about it: Tragedies, including great injustices all over the world, are now quickly accessible for all the world to see. But also think about how quickly interest in those tragedies fades.

Great hurricanes, devastating fires, famine, murders, pestilence, whatever the tragedy, will grab the headlines for about 15 minutes. Then it’s on to something else, something new. Sometimes it’s even difficult to get an update on how things are turning out.

We are examining justice and injustice. Within that context, we know that the reality is that the world does go on, even though there is much suffering resulting from injustices, even as I am writing this, even as you are reading this.

The first word in our opening scripture greatly impacted me today. That word, “meanwhile,” just says it all: No matter how good life may be for some, there is always a “meanwhile” of much suffering, hurt, abuse, injustice, etc., going on somewhere.

At times, we may be the one suffering. Other times, we may be on the “oblivious” side, as things are going pretty well for us. The truth is, if we mourned whenever someone, somewhere, was mourning, our lives would be dominated by sorrow, hurt, etc.; it would be a miserable existence.

However, when we are blessed to be on the “things are pretty good” side of the “meanwhile” equation, we must not forget about those who are suffering great injustices:

“Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13:3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Our personal pain can be like an echo chamber in which we feel very alone in our suffering. It can seem as though no one really knows, or if they do know, they certainly don’t care.

It’s hard to imagine what Joseph was feeling as he was sold by his own brothers, then sold again to Potiphar (a leader in Egypt), treated as a non-person, treated as a commodity.

Joseph can only hope that he will find justice in Potiphar’s house….

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#resolveforhim #47DaysOfJudgement