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What can I do when I face injustice?

/ Anthea Kotlan / Leave a comment

In the summer of 1994, my family was locked in a legal battle in a Houston courtroom with a powerful car manufacturer. Images of David and Goliath sprung to my mind, but our lawyer had no smooth stones or slingshot. His arguments were not enough to cause a jury to vote in our favor. Four long years after my sister was killed, no justice was served.

Once the shock wore off, sadness settled in, and we all went back to the business of grieving her death all over again and caring for her young children.

When faced with injustice, what does God call me to do?

We are called to praise God 

1 We praise you, God, we praise you, for your Name is near; people tell of your wonderful deeds.
(Psalm 75:1 NIV)

Psalm 75 begins with thanksgiving and praise for God’s sovereign rule.

This is counterintuitive to society’s expectations. Many of us have been influenced to believe that we don’t praise until we gain a victory.

Sharing testimonies of God’s wonderful deeds encourages other believers, and in a sense, sharing stories of God’s faithfulness reveals his work. God is always right there beside me, but I often need reminders of his presence. I become distracted by my daily stresses and lose sight of his work in my life. We need to remind one another of God’s continuous gracious interventions, especially when facing injustice.

Praising God does not deny the current circumstance, but it does remind my heart of God’s faithfulness to me and those I love.

We are called to be watching for God’s justice

2 You say, “I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge with equity.
3 When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm.
4 To the arrogant I say, ‘Boast no more,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns.
5 Do not lift your horns against heaven; do not speak so defiantly.’”
(Psalm 75:2-5 NIV)

Every single day, I confront the brokenness of this world. I see those who believe they don’t have to follow the laws of the land. Some of society’s most vulnerable members become victims and cry out for justice.

Are you seeking justice for yourself or a loved one?

We are made in the image of a just God, so we each long for justice to be done here on earth. It is imprinted on our very souls.

In verses 4 and 5, God reassures his people that he not only chooses the perfect time to judge but will do so with balance, insight, and fairness.

Earthly judges may be corrupted or prevented from bringing justice to this world, but God will prevail. That may be now or years from now.

God reminds his people that he holds the foundations of the earth firm even when all is quaking. Notice that the scripture does not say if the earth and people shake. It says when. Sooner or later, we will all experience seasons of uncertainty and lack. But God will hold us close in the middle of the darkest seasons of our lives if we will only look to him.

God identifies the arrogant people, those who defy him, and he commands their obedience sooner or later. There is no escape for them.

We are called to wait on God’s placement


6 No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt themselves.
7 It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.
8 In the hand of the Lord is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices; he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs.
(Psalm 75:6-8 NIV)

How far is the East from the West? This area covers the entire Earth; therefore, no one can exalt him or herself —only God can do that for a person.

While our society celebrates those who “take what they want” and make “power grabs” for fame and fortune, this is not God’s way. If the manner in which I succeed is questionable, God will not bless my efforts.

Therefore, I shouldn’t try to gain an elevated position because if I do, I won’t be able to stay there. But no force on Earth can remove me if God puts me there.

God knows our hearts, minds, and motivations. He will force the wicked to drink down the full measure of his judgment, and they will have no escape. Can I wait on God’s plan for judgment and justice? Not without his help, every single day.

We are called to persist in praise

9 As for me, I will declare this forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob,
10 who says, “I will cut off the horns of all the wicked, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”
(Psalm 75:9-10 NIV)


When I come face to face with the goodness of God, I can’t help but praise Him.

Our praise will go on forever because God will go on forever. This is a glimpse of the now and not yet.

Someday, we will have endless days and nights to praise God in Heaven. We will never get weary but be filled with awe and wonder in his presence.

Psalm 75 begins and ends with praise because God wants to remind us of how he works. Jesus’ death and resurrection brought the ultimate reconciliation between God and man. This will someday pass away, all will be put to right, and real and restorative justice will prevail in all situations. We will live in the new heaven and earth, praise the Lord all day and night, and never grow weary.

All those years ago, my family did not receive a favorable verdict. It seemed that all was lost. Sadly, I don’t have a report of how eventually we prevailed or received what was owed. I have had to choose to release this situation to the Lord. Despite it all, I can praise God, watch for his justice, and await God’s placement.

All was not actually lost that day because despite massive damage to my sister’s car, her two children, aged just four months and not quite two, survived with barely a scratch. I learned during the trial that emergency responders had to use the “jaws of life” to cut my sister’s infant daughter out of her car seat, sitting inches from the full impact of a ¾ ton pickup truck. God miraculously shielded two tiny children that day, and I will be forever grateful to know and love them.

Prayer

We praise you, God, for your Name is near; let us be known as a people who tell of your wonderful deeds and encourage one another. Help us to be those who bear the light of your presence in a dark world where justice can be hard to find and painful to wait for. Help us to wait on you, Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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How do I trust God in the Middle of a Season of Loss? Psalm 74

/ Anthea Kotlan / Leave a comment

Have you ever seen a church building repurposed as a new business, restaurant, or bar? I have seen this many times while visiting family and traveling in Europe. One church I remember had gorgeous stained-glass windows but was converted into an Indian restaurant. I found it strangely unsettling, and loss is firmly attached to it in my mind.

There is a special rite or service within Anglicanism known as The De-Consecration of a Sacred Space. The liturgy is designed to make room for lament for those who experienced some of the most joyful moments in their lives inside the walls of that church. A wedding day, a child’s baptism, or a loved one’s memorial service becomes tied to those sacred spaces in our hearts and minds. Recently, a pastor told me of an unfortunate situation in the Austin area. When a nearby church’s attendance dwindled, the denomination closed the church building. Next, families who had placed their loved ones in the church’s columbarium were contacted. The families were asked to come and pick up their loved one’s cremated remains. His church was in a growth cycle and recently built a new columbarium. They began receiving regular requests to purchase niches for these homeless remains.

In Psalm 74, the worship leader cries out to God on behalf of an entire congregation in lament over the destruction of their sanctuary. While most church-going Americans have never experienced the tragedy of having a foreign power destroy their church, some know a fair bit about church splits and church attendance decline. While I realize some churches might be building bigger buildings and moving to new spaces, that is not always the case. Like divorce, church splits and dwindling attendance create financial havoc and loss.

A Cry for Help

1 O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.
3 Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
(Psalm 74:1-3 ESV)
  • Does God need me to remind Him?
  • Does God need me to direct Him?
  • Does God need to hear my status update?

No

When faced with loss, I feel compelled to line it out for God as if it might have escaped his notice. The truth is that God knows all about my losses. He knows what I lost before, and He even knows what I will lose in the future.

A List of Violations

4 Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place; they set up their own signs for signs.
5 They were like those who swing axes in a forest of trees. 
6 And all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
7 They set your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of your name,
    bringing it down to the ground. 
8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long.
(Psalm 74:4-9 ESV)

Losing a place of worship strikes at the heart of a community. Destroying beautiful things like art, worship spaces, or rare books feels deeply personal. In this psalm, the author writes about the additional loss of a prophet. Prophets serve a community by providing wise guidance. They speak the truth and call a people group to the next steps in the restoration process.

In times of disorientation, seeking a spiritual guide gives necessary support. Ask the Lord to provide a pastor or mentor for you.

When and Why Response

10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them! 
(Psalm 74:10-11 ESV)

Sooner or later, I always arrive with God at the “when and why moment.” I want to know the timeline because it might give me an illusion of control. If I only knew when this would be over and the restoration would come, I could deal with this. These are the lies I tell myself.

I also want to know why, and I have even fallen into the trap of assigning motives to other people’s actions, which leads to more offense on my part.

Releasing my need to have every question answered might be the best pathway to healing after a loss.

But God

12 Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
(Psalm 74:12 ESV)

A turn in the lament occurs at this halfway point in Psalm 74. God works “in the midst of the earth” amid loss and tragedy.

I must choose to take this turn to reorient my perspective. Recently, a friend of mine went through a particularly dark and painful season. She chose daily to ask the Lord to show her himself in the middle of the loss and the pain. Slowly, she began to see a flickering candle of God’s presence. She kept a journal and noted each point of light along her journey. Four years later, she has a powerful testimony of seeing God’s presence in one of the hardest seasons of her life.

Prayer

Lord,

Please help me trust amid loss, allow me to release my need to know it all, and help me see you working each day. In Jesus’s name, amen.  

Shout, Sing, and Say – Psalm 66

/ Anthea Kotlan / 2 Comments

On any given Sunday, we witness miracles.

When God called my husband and me to church planting, we had to leave a thriving mid-sized church where we had served for decades. We left behind some of our closest friends and family members to launch into the unknown. Initially, we were sent to serve at a church plant well over an hour from our home. We battled traffic and tolls to invest in that community for a year, knowing that it would not be a long-term place for us to grow. During that year, we witnessed God moving redemptively, and we learned a great deal.

In 2022, we finally found our way back to a place we had only dreamed of: church planting in Conroe, Texas. The first time we attended a service in our newly borrowed space, we were stunned to discover that it would take us only fifteen minutes to drive home after we helped clean up and put everything away. This would be a first for us after serving for over twenty years in places and spaces far from where we lived.

This season of church planting allows us to depend very much on God’s provision. I hope I never grow weary of shouting, singing, and saying how good God has been to our little flock. We couldn’t do any of this without His generous hand!

SHOUT, SING, SAY


1Shout for joy to God, all the earth 2 sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!

3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.

4 All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah

(Psalm 66:1-4 ESV)

Shared praise and thanksgiving will multiply when I shout, sing, and speak about God’s marvelous deeds with others. The practice spurs our hearts to dig deep and remember the goodness of the Lord.

God commands us to shout and share because it does our hearts good in our community. We are designed to join our voices and share.

Who will you share with today?

MAKING A LIST

5 Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

6 He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, 7 who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations—let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

(Psalm 66:5-7 ESV)

Do you ever try to go to the grocery store without a list? It seldom goes well. There is something about making a list that builds on itself. I write down butter and then remember we need milk. I write down apples and recall our low supply of peanut butter.

When I thank God for what He has done for me in specific ways, I recall more and more. I thank Him for my daughter’s new house and remember how God arranged a rental house for her and her family to live in while they searched for this new house in their new town.

I begin the list of thanks for 2023 and remember all God has done for our fledging church plant. The miracles of providing a soundboard, new folding chairs, a 22-foot storage trailer, a wonderful place to meet, talented people who lead worship, run sound, and create curriculum for children. I am so thankful for the teenagers who tirelessly volunteered and the many ministry partners along our journey.

What can you add to your list?

PRAISE HIM FOR THE GOOD AND THE DIFFICULT

8 Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard,

9 who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip.

10 For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.

11 You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; 12 you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

(Psalm 66:8-11 ESV)

God calls us to give Him thanks and praise for the good and the difficult. Sometimes, it’s hard to understand why the soundboard died so abruptly. However, it did allow us to see His provision and the generosity of various people who all stepped in to replace it. Just when we began to struggle to store all our stuff each Sunday as we set up, a 22-foot trailer was given to us. Now, there was a small problem. Legal paperwork had to be filed and processed, which took some persistence from a tenacious church member. However, at the end of it all, we thanked God for this mind-blowing provision.

What do you praise God for?

MAKE OFFERINGS

13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you,

14 that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.

15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah

(Psalm 66:13-15 ESV)

Burnt offerings are costly. Fulfilling vows made and promised when I was in trouble can be challenging. I would prefer to give out of what is left over. God calls for sacrifice, and burning the offerings helped His people see how He wished to consume what they had given Him. That likely helped them not drag it back the way I am sadly tempted to. God calls for me to give back to Him, something I will miss and want to keep. These kinds of offerings please Him most.

What can I offer?

SHARE TESTIMONIES AND CONFESSIONS


16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

17 I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. 

18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

19 But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

20 Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

(Psalm 66:16-20 ESV)

Corporate testimonies and confession fuel the Holy Spirit to burn brightly in your fellowship. Confession of my sins is essential. Confession of my community’s sins is also required. As we join voices in sharing praise reports, we must also ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what we can confess as a community. Sharing testimonies of what God has done encourages everyone who participates. Sometimes, others see God working in our situation when we cannot. They spy a treasure of His goodness and report it to us. We all need reminders of His steadfast love.

What testimonies can I encourage others with?

PRAYER

Help me to shout, sing, and say your praises regularly. Remind me to list all You have done for me and my people. I will praise you for the good and difficult because it is all for your glory. Keep me in the habit of making costly offerings to you of my first fruits, not my leftovers. Help me to confess alone and together. Embolden me to be in the habit of sharing stories of your faithfulness in my life and the lives of others. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.

Waiting Well – Psalm 62

/ Anthea Kotlan / Leave a comment

Waiting well is hardly my strong suit. How does time spent getting stuck in traffic when you run late to pick up your child expand into an unknowable amount of time? Suddenly, everyone is moving in slow motion, yet the time is speeding forward, and your estimated arrival time continues speeding further into the future.

Waiting in Silence 

1 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.

2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

3 How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?

4 They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood.

They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah

(Psalm 62:1-4 ESV)

The psalmist declares his willingness to wait on God because God is the source of all he values most. Even when attacked and vulnerable, he chooses to focus on the Lord.

When faced with a threat, I am tempted to fill the waiting with words of worry, complaint, and even catastrophizing. I can raise the “what if” scenarios to an outstanding level, but to what end? Will any of that help me?

What if I chose to wait in silence?

The psalmist decides to wait quietly and in the certainty of his rescue. While acknowledging the threat, he doesn’t fall for his enemy’s deceptive or intimidating ways. He turns down the volume on the doubters and tunes into the quiet presence of the Lord.

Waiting Unshaken

5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.

6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

7 On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

(Psalm 62:5-7 ESV)


The psalmist decides to remain unshaken and focused on the solid rock of God. He declares his dependence on God alone.

When dealing with uncertainty, I am tempted to lose hope.

Waiting on God’s Wisdom

8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

(Psalm 62:8 ESV)

The psalmist reminds believers to trust God at all times and in all circumstances and encourages believers first to pour out their hearts to God.

When dealing with human betrayal, I am drawn to seek justice from those in authority on earth. Or tempted to take matters into my own hands and rush to justice before even seeking God’s wisdom. At this point, I don’t know what I don’t know. I must wait on God’s wisdom.

Waiting on God’s Conclusions

9 Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.

10 Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

(Psalm 62:9-10 ESV)

The psalmist recognizes how fleeting the favor of man can be. Relationships die, people drift apart, and financial gains and losses come and go.

When I feel people fail me, it’s easy to allow disappointment to crush me. I must choose to trust God.

Waiting on God’s Steadfast Love and Justice

11 Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God,

12 and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.

(Psalm 62:11-12 ESV)

The psalmist reminds believers to listen to God’s word and recognize his power. God has all the power and the most remarkable ability to ensure everyone is treated fairly and receives what he or she is due.

When the world celebrates the strength of the mob, the influence of the crowd, and the loudest voices, it’s tempting for me to lose hope. I must choose to cling to God’s steadfast love.

Prayer

Lord, teach me to wait well. Help me to focus on you even when I am distracted by anxiety and uncertainty. You are always worth waiting on. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.