The Opportunity of Injustice
Valerie Ferrara
Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said, "I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will be naked when I leave.
The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!" In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God. –Job 1:20-22
She told the students that her passion for serving the less fortunate was cultivated at Boston Trinity Academy. She now has the opportunity to help people with their medications – making sure the dosage is correct, that the medication is being used correctly, or that multiple medications do not react adversely with each other, among other things. However, she deals with people who frequently have financial issues, a history of incarceration and/or abuse, past or present drug use, and similar obstacles. "It is not a pretty picture by any account," Kaitlyn said. "BTA opened my eyes to the fact that the injustices we see are not just a concept but an opportunity."
Kaitlyn's college training allowed her to begin helping those oppressed by their circumstances. The things she deals with are overwhelming at times, and she asked, "How do you keep a burden from overcoming you? You have to stay rooted in the gospel." She admitted that she is sometimes frustrated that society doesn't do anything about some injustices, and sometimes loses hope for the victims of injustice. She then turned the attention of students and staff to the book of Job.
For years, Kaitlyn said, she wondered why God would punish someone who is innocent. Job suffered a series of injustices until he had lost everything. Job and his friends tried to make sense of his suffering. Their dilemma was that they made an assumption that being good leads to reward, and doing evil leads to punishment. Job could not comprehend the complexity of God's plan. Kaitlyn said she learned from Job that we cannot take the injustices of the world and solve them. "God has a much bigger perspective than I could ever have," she said.
She wanted the students to grasp two things from her message. First, as humans, we want to be able to understand everything; we can control and fix things we understand. God wants us to wrestle with Him, get to know him, pursue Him so He can lead us to deeper places of trust. Second, Heaven is not yet here on earth. Until this happens, evil will exist here. Injustice, she said, helps us focus on God and fight for His purpose.
Kaitlyn challenged the students to seek change and fight injustice. "God is far greater and wiser than we will ever be," she said. "God invites us to fight injustice with Him. Rely on God when you feel like you have lost hope. He carries burdens for us. He is the only light that will never go out."
