A Fresh Infusion Of JoyShembull

Joy from Justice

Fifty beds lined the driveway of the Heartline Ministries in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. This makeshift field hospital ministered to the suffering in the days and weeks following the devastating earthquake of 2010. Among the badly wounded was a small boy named Emmanuel . . . God with us.

Emmanuel’s mother was by his side. The same earthquake that had left her little boy’s body broken and scarred had taken the lives of her other three children. She was utterly shattered by the grief.

Yet every night she raised her voice to lead the entire hospital in worship to God. Grown men were reduced to tears at the sight and the sound.

Time passed. Emmanuel’s body healed, and he and his mom moved south to try to start over. One day the missionaries at Heartline received a call from her: she was expecting another child. Arrangements were made for her and Emmanuel to come to Heartline’s maternity center.

There she delivered a son, a miracle of redemption. She named him Raphael . . . Healing God.

The missionary midwives of Heartline Ministries love to tell the story of Emmanuel and his mother. They point to it as a powerful example of their personal experience of Proverbs 21:15—“When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.”

Perhaps using the word justice here seems odd to you, but I assure you, justice matters deeply to God. He cares passionately that His children suffer crushing poverty. It breaks His heart that more women die in childbirth in Haiti than anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere.

Whenever we, like the missionaries at Heartline, humbly work to meet the needs of people like Emmanuel and his mother, we are partnering with God in furthering His justice.

It is a partnership that demands sacrifice—the sacrifice of our self-interest, pride, and conveniences—but Proverbs promises when we see that “justice is done,” we will experience joy.

Ask God to open your eyes and heart today to those who are suffering from injustice. Seek His guidance as to where and how you can partner with Him to be a part of the solution. I promise you, He is already at work! The Lord’s justice and joy are always on the move. All you have to do is get on board.

Shine the light of Christ by serving those in the darkest places.