Job asked a question of God.  So did Jeremiah.  Job asked it this way –

“Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?”  (Job 21:7)

Jeremiah asked the same question of God, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper?  Why do all the faithless live at ease?”  (Jeremiah 12:1)

King David also asked God, “How long will the wicked, O Lord, how long will the wicked be jubilant?”  (some translations say triumph instead of be jubilant)  (Psalm 94:3)

I confess – I find myself asking these same questions today, as I watch the burning, looting, graffiti, vandalism, violence and killing continue in so many cities across our country.  These acts are against the law, yet it seems the guilty are not only going unpunished, they are being allowed and encouraged to continue in their criminal activities.  Property continues to be destroyed, lives continue to be lost.

But there is no outcry from the people.  Or maybe there is, but it is quickly silenced and so goes unheard.  The few that have been arrested, have been released without charges, rendering any police efforts to protect property and lives meaningless.  If there is no consequence, there is no reason not to do whatever harm one wishes to do to others.

I feel Isaiah’s anguish as he cried out, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.  Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.   . . .    who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.”   (Isaiah 5:20-23)

Hard to believe those words were written almost three thousand years ago.  They sound like they are describing current day events.  Isaiah continues in chapter 59:3-8,

“Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.  No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity.  They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.   . . .   Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.  . . .  they are swift to shed innocent blood.  Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways.  The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths.  They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace.”

That’s the picture I see before me of our cities today, they are marred by ruin and destruction and there is no justice for those that have lost their lives or their livelihoods when their businesses were destroyed.  It appears that evil is triumphing right now.  Could it be because evil is masquerading as justice?

Today, I am remembering Breann Leath.  She was a young, beautiful IMPD police officer who died in the line of duty on April 9th, 2020.  She was only twenty-four years old.  She left behind a young son, not to mention all her other grieving family and friends.  Breann is not the first to give her life for those of us whom she served and protected and she won’t be the last.  But I would give to Breann the honor that is her due.

Not many of us have jobs that require us to put our life on the line each day simply by going to work.  But police officers do.  When she went to work that morning, it was a typical day for Breann.  She answered a domestic disturbance call and was shot dead before she ever entered the residence.  Not many of us have jobs that require extraordinary courage just to show up for work.  Breann did.  And Breann showed up.  So do millions of other officers across this country show up day after day and night after night.

Will we realize too late what we had after it is gone?  Oh, and one more thing. Breann was black.  And I think her life mattered.  But then, I think life matters.

I think David Dorn’s life mattered.  I think Bernell Trammell’s life mattered.  (so much for the right to free speech)  I think Lorenzo Anderson’s life mattered.  All these black lives mattered.  But not to BLM and the media apparently.

Law enforcement officers were our heroes.  (remember 9-11?)  They have been our protectors and our peacekeepers.  Without their service and self-sacrifice we will know neither safety nor peace.  We are already experiencing the chaos and confusion that comes with their absence.  A nation without the rule of law will be subject to the rule of tyrants.

A protester in Portland has defiantly declared war on the police.  BLM and COVID rule right now.  They decide which lives matter.  They decide who is essential and who is expendable.  I feel like David when he cried out to God in Psalm 119:136 saying,

“Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for Your law is not obeyed.”

Even though I feel like crying over the suffering and injustice I witness all around me, I find these instructions in Psalm 37:1-9 to guide me.

“Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.   . . .    Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.  Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret – it leads only to evil.  For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.”

God says in Isaiah 61:8,  “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity.”

So I will, “Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.  For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake His faithful ones.”  (Psalm 37:27-28)

“He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  (Micah 6:8)

justice, mercy, humility

sincerely,        Grace Day