In celebration of the paperback release of Justice this month, I invited some of those who read Justice to share their thoughts here. Rather than book reports, these posts take some of the themes of Justice and explore them as they apply to life outside the book. I hope you’ll find these posts encouraging, whether you’ve read Justice or not.

by Sheila McIntyre

So, I have a question for you. Are you ready?

Here it is: How many of you have the perfect life? No problems. No issues. Just amazing bliss.

Okay, so the question was a set-up. No one can have the perfect life, although it would be nice if life came in nice, neat packages for us to live. The reality is that they don’t. It wasn’t for Brooklyn and Jake in Justice, and it definitely isn’t for us.

So what’s the deal? Why is that? Why did Brooklyn and Jake have to go through such tough trials and why do we? Why is life so tough sometimes? Good questions.

I won’t pretend I have the answers to all the things you are going through. Here is what I do know from my experiences though…I know that when I am in the deepest valley, I find that that is when I grow closest to the Lord and my faith in Him deepens the most.

It is also then when I am refined the most and the impurities in me are driven away—the junk in my life becomes so unimportant. I really realize who and what is important in my life. Through this time the Lord has a way of developing character in me and making me realize that how I respond to circumstances needs to be through the wisdom that comes only from Him. Anything else gets me into trouble.

As the dross is melted away from me through these tough times, I begin to shine in a new way. Certainly the heat from these times is painful and these trials are things I would rather not go through. However, walking through them hand in hand with my Father, I find that the blessing on the other side of the valley is a mountain that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

Through these trials, my Father has grown me up in Him more, He has blessed me with more intimacy with Him, and He has allowed me to go through things where I might be able to help others.

Just as the Lord had a plan for Brooklyn and Jake and brought it to fruition, so too He does in our lives as well. He never leaves us or forsakes us; there is always a plan.

When you are tempted to give up and feel like your world is crashing down around you, remember this verse: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11 KJV).

He is with you, and He has a plan.

Blessings!

Sheila McIntyre is a high school business teacher going into her 15th year of teaching. She is living out her calling–her passion–of teaching computers and business to teens while serving the Lord. Residing in Western NY with her husband and five fur-kids (kitties), she loves to read the Bible, keep up on technology, write, and read Christian fiction/blog about them. You can view her blog at: https://oasisfortheweary.blogspot.com/

Photo Credits
Title image background photo by Jonny Swales on Unsplash, graphic created on Canva.com
Spilling coffee photo by Ohmky on Unsplash

Justice is available in e-book or paperback from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Christianbook.com.