Justice

Justice

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.

IT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO that I sat in one of my graduate studies classes and first heard how much human trafficking was prevalent in my home state of Minnesota. As our professor shared with us the numbers of women being trafficked, where traffickers would find victims and how many would use the interstate I drove on almost daily to transport the women from state to state, my heart sank into the pit of my stomach. There was a part of me that wanted to just stop listening, to turn away from the uncomfortable feelings it gave me, but instead I chose to sit with the pain and take it all in.

I left that day with my eyes opened but my heart heavy. I needed to process all that I had seen and heard. Sure, I knew that slavery still existed, but (and this is hard and a bit embarrassing to admit even now) I could easily put it out of my mind when I only thought of it as being somewhere else in the world. Seeing faces of women who had been rescued was shocking, waking me up to an issue I’d ignored for far too long. I determined to do something about it, raising my own awareness and looking for organizations who were already addressing the concern.

Today, my husband and I talk with our children about human trafficking, we donate, and we continue to pray for those who are affected. There is no more excuse to not be aware: my eyes have been opened, and I won’t turn away.

So much of God’s heart displayed throughout the Old and New Testaments centers on justice for the oppressed and the lowly. If we are to follow his lead, then the pursuit of justice—in all of its many forms—should be not just something we talk about, but act on. To do that, we need to be willing to listen, to learn from those who are being oppressed, and to take steps to come alongside those in need of justice.

Lord, thank you for having a heart bent toward justice. Give us the courage to join you. Amen.

-Kendra

One Good Step: Ponder God’s heart for those in need of justice, and search for stories of oppression. Find how often God speaks of justice for the oppressed in Scripture.