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Zephaniah 3:8 “‘Therefore wait for me,’ says the Lord, ‘for the day when I arise as witness. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all the heat of my anger; for in the fire of my jealous wrath all the earth shall be consumed.’”

 

Do you find there is an unbelievable amount of injustice that has been done and is not being addressed, or even acknowledged? I do. Do you hear people still today lauding the very people who participated in these injustices, while continuing to disparage those who called them out as they were being done, and feel your anger rising? I do. Do you see a complete lack of accountability for the perpetrators, who continue to pat themselves on the back, while so many people suffer from what they have done, and continue to do? I do.

When I became aware of the level of evil with which we are dealing, a process that was gradual for me, but that COVID and the vaccines really hastened, I realized my complete powerlessness in the face of its vastness and intricacy. All I could do was turn to God and trust Him. When I saw the people participating in this evil on TV every day, being praised while they spread fear and issued capricious rules that caused immense suffering, it would have been easy to let hatred rise in my heart, and I am so grateful for Jesus’ instruction to pray for my enemies, which I began doing.

 

The list of people I pray for daily by name, both friends and enemies, is very long, and still growing! I have found that praying for people who are hurting me or others has kept me from those feelings of hatred. It makes me see them as children of God for whom Jesus died, and who He wants more than anything to save. This keeps me from wanting to see them suffer, and instead praying for them to repent. It also greatly increases my trust in God, who I know is all just, and His justice is perfect.

 

Instead of being frustrated at the failures of human justice, I can “wait for Him", and know that He will have justice, but His Justice will be tempered with His mercy, which is also perfect. He is a witness of all that has happened and is happening. He has seen it all and knows exactly how and when to rise up in the heat of His anger. When He does, it will feel like all the earth is being consumed with the heat of His anger and the fire of His wrath, but that fire is a cleansing fire, not just a punishing one.

 

If the people who have done and are doing wicked things refuse to repent on their own, and do not face human justice, it may be that only this fire will help save them. That is really what God wants. If it doesn’t work for them, it will at least get them out of their positions of power and influence, and give future generations a fighting chance.