More Trust...Less Complaining

Exodus 22:9 -  In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any other lost property about which somebody says, ‘This is mine,’ both parties are to bring their cases before the judges.  The one whom the judges declare guilty must pay back double to the other.

As God detailed the way people should settle disputes between them…he raised up special people called judges to listen to each case. They were to be the final word…they decided the guilt or innocence in situation that caused loss of life to any property…or of matters that caused people to take two sides. God gave these judges special discernment and wisdom to make the right decision. The people were to trust them as if the decision had come from God himself.

I thought of Solomon…and the wisdom that he had to see the truth of a dispute.  The story of how he found the real mother of a child by threatening to cut it into half to settle a dispute popped into my mind. I imagine that the judges of this day had much the same wisdom to see the truth.

I wish I had the same trust for the judges of our day as these people must have had in Moses day.  The problem is that not all judges today are godly men…many complete unbelievers in God.  I find myself questioning their decisions many times… and with a heavy heart…asking God to intervene to bring justice.

I am reminded that God is in control…even when a decision is made that is not of God.   Romans 8:28 promises that… it says…. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  I admit that it is hard to trust this promise all the time…especially when the judgment that was made affects us personally.

I am sure that there were gasps of unbelief at Solomon’s dictate to kill a child. They only saw the immediate results of his words.  But Solomon had been given a glimpse of the truth…that a mother would rather see her child raised by another….than to see him killed….the same sacrifice that God made for each of us that believe in his name.

I needed the reminder that God is the ultimate judge…and the things that I interpret as injustice will be corrected in his time. Just as the people of Moses day had to trust in the decisions of the judges God had put in place…I must trust that God will bring about justice in his own way…in his own timing. My job is not to question or judge myself…but to trust and pray for God to use every decision for the good of the people that love him.

Father…thank you for the reminder that you are in control.  Forgive me for the times that I get sidetracked questioning the events of the day…instead of following your words to continually pray about the things that bother my spirit.  Help me to do less complaining… and more trusting.  Amen.