Strange Comfort

Last night I asked God to give me comfort in him instead of the other places where I often seek it. I just so happened to be in Ezekiel 18 in my Bible readings. It talks about God’s Old Testament laws and judgment — not normally comforting like, say, the Psalms.

Here’s a sample:

“If he fathers a son who is violent, a shedder of blood, who oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination, lends at interest, and takes profit; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.

This time it greatly comforted me.

Father has laws, boundaries, rules. And he is passionate about justice. That means when all is said and done, at the end of time, perfect justice will be done. That gives me a profound, unshakable sense of security. Beneath all the turmoil is absolute bedrock.

All the terrible things going on in the world – corporate greed oppressing the poor, perversions of every kind, manipulation by the media – all of it is finite. Father has set boundaries on them.

He has already penciled on his calendar, “This is the last day I am going to let people oppress each other. Tomorrow I will right every single wrong, and answer everybody’s prayers for justice with YES.”