El Shaddai (God All-Sufficient)

And if they do cry out and God does not answer, it is because of their pride. But it is wrong to say God doesn’t listen, to say El Shaddai isn’t concerned. And it is even more false to say he doesn’t see what is going on. He will bring about justice if you will only wait. - Job 35:12-14

I once was the only white kid in school and a small group of kids was hitting me with sticks and throwing stones at me. I brought the problem to my grandmother but nothing happened. She did not reprimand those kids. She did not accompany me to school and keep them from beating me. I saw no action whatsoever. The attempted beatings (I did fight back) continued. She simply told me to keep on trying to do what was right and fight when I had to. I grew angry, thinking to myself how useless she was.

Then one day, I arrived at the school and the bullies were absent. The following day they all showed up black and blue, with very obvious marks of a tremendous beating! I thought perhaps my grandmother (in all her 5 foot, 100 pound glory) had taken care of them personally! But I discovered that she had gone to the school authorities the very day I had first asked for help. A couple of the thugs were the sons of prominent men; one was the eldest son of a local chief and was destined to become the village chief some day. One did not lightly deal with such children! So the school authorities watched from a distance to make sure they knew exactly who was giving me (the white kid) the beatings. They made sure there were several adult witnesses. They made sure I was not instigating the fights. Then, when they had all the facts and all the proof, they took it up with the boy’s fathers. Those boys got the beating of their lives! In Africa, they still believe in corporal punishment. I no longer had to duck stones.

Too often we grow impatient with God. We take our concerns to Him and in our immaturity, expect instant results. But God is not human. He is not at the mercy of weakness or emotion. He will intervene in due time, or as the Bible puts it, “in the fullness of time.”

God does not possess the characteristic of justice. God IS justice. He always does the right thing at the right time the right way. We must be patient and endure what He allows in our lives, trusting His judgment.

My grandmother later told me she was glad it had taken a little while to get all the facts straight and that I had had to deal with the thugs for a while on my own. When (more than a little disturbed by her callousness) I asked why, she replied that all boys needed to struggle some in order to become good strong men.