Is God Just?

By Odon Bulamba (25 October 2002)

It’s a joy to meet together. We are going to talk about something small that has a big meaning, if we don’t despise it. When God created man in His image their size changed from day to day, and because of our sins we are becoming shorter and our life span is decreasing. In the past a man could measure 6 meters high but today you can see a man 1 meter tall, also a man lived for 900 years but today you will be lucky to reach 100 years of age.

So we are going to talk about the height of man. Some people are tall, short and really thin, and it is so obvious when we look with our eyes. When you see someone you can describe him or her easily, if you saw Odon today you would say I saw a black man who was short. Everything that God created in this world has a meaning so that justice can manifest itself. If you are tall and your friend is short it doesn’t mean that God is unjust, if you are fat and your friend is slim it doesn’t mean that God is unfair.

The world only sees what pleases the eyes. In all these things we forget to involve God to the point where people try to formulate drugs to make people taller. God created all this to teach us about justice and justice starts with little things, you cannot be fair in big things if you are not fair in little things.

If your child does something wrong while at your neighbours house and they tell you about the situation don’t defend your child but help them not to carry on doing wrong things.

Was God unjust by creating Zacchaeus short? God teaches us justice by this man. Even though he was a short man his eyes and ears worked very well to prepare himself for the coming of Jesus. Because God gave Zacchaeus intelligence to do what other men could do, he practiced justice, and the first type of justice he practised was making the decision to climb a tree. Even though this tree had less value than Zacchaeus, he acknowledged its worth because he understood that through this tree he could see Jesus Christ.

The source of justice in a Christian’s life is when you stop to think about where you are, to see if Jesus is there. If Jesus comes to your place, look at your spiritual height, are you in a good relationship with God? Have you sinned against someone? Have you offended your brother of sister? Ask for forgiveness if you have. We all know that Jesus Christ is the tree and therefore we have to climb up it to see Him. When we ask for forgiveness to those we have offended, only then can you bring your offering to the church. God accepts us when we fix our problems with others and by doing this we look for righteousness.

There was a famous preacher who visited Zaire so we went to see him. There was a big crowd with people praising God, however because I was short I couldn’t see anything and my desire was to see the preacher face to face. There were poles connected to loud speakers so I climbed them to see the preacher but everybody was telling me to climb down. The preacher saw me and told me to climb down so he could pray for me, and when everybody heard this they cleared the way. When we are over our actions and decide to be in the Lord, Jesus will say, “come” and then our problems will find solutions. When the preacher prayed for me I felt joy but my mother was a bit worried because I could have fallen, but as a child I didn’t care. To give justice room in our lives we must have the courage to climb and if you find that your height is too short in the Lord now it is the time to start growing.

Jesus said that anyone who wants to follow Him must carry his own cross, unfortunately as Christians today we wait for Jesus to do it all. We have to fight just to make that one step forward and this is the first height.

There was man named Goliath who was about 3.5 meters high. In Noah’s time people were like trees and if a lion saw him it would flee. Everybody feared Goliath because he was tall. The Bible doesn’t say his face sacred people away but his height, so was God just by creating Goliath tall? God made him this way so that His people would be frightened. What do you think the Israelites were thinking about their God who created an enemy that is a giant? Has God made a mistake? Should you be the giant? Goliath made the Israelites fear.

Sometimes God leads us to impossible situations, which have impossible solutions, so physically what can you do? God has given us a comfort and it is to believe in Jesus and you’ll see the solution. God will not lead you into something that is over your faith and no temptation will come into your life that is bigger than your faith. If you find that a sin in your life is a giant, know that your faith is also a giant. If you find that a sin in you is big, know that you are stronger in the Lord.

There was a man named David who didn’t have any physical strength. David may have not had physical attributes but he did have courage. He had no fear and he wasn’t impressed by all the armour but instead he used what he had. David didn’t use a machine gun because he didn’t want to use what he didn’t know, instead he used what he had. With very little faith we are able to make the impossible happen. Many Christians say they don’t know the Bible enough to cast out demons and pray, but what did David use? Did he use a shield or spare? He used a simple sling - shot with stones as his ammunition.

The battle is not ours but God’s, we aim the sling-shot and let the stone go but the stone, which is Jesus Christ, will penetrate the forehead where neither shield nor helmet can defend it. With a little stone Goliath fell forever. All the people behind Goliath fled and when we overcome the devil, all his demons that are behind him will also flee. When you pronounce the name of Jesus with a stone, the demons don’t look twice and that is why people used the name of Jesus in the Bible. If someone has been sick for 20 years and God’s servant comes along and says in the name of Jesus be healed, 50 or 500 evil spirits have to flee.

With courage David took Goliath’s sword and cut his head, why did he cut his head even though he was already dead? David cut his head to show the Israelites that he was really dead because David’s companions doubted. After David had done this, the Israelites shouted victory, but did they fight? To give justice room in our lives we have to see the value in other people’s lives, although they are spiritually less than you we have to acknowledge their value because God can use them, with their little talents they can do great things. Be confident with the faith you have and know that faith as big as a mustard seed can move mountains. Do we want Zacchaeus, Goliath or David’s height?

The last person we will look at is the prophet Eli. One day Eli the prophet thought that Hannah was drunk while she was praying in the temple. Eli was right because Hannah was drunk with the spirit of God, so what are we going to learn from Eli? Eli was old and his children went to war against the Philistines. Eli never use to fight he would just sit there and receive messages about the war. The Bible says he was fat and lazy because he use to sit on his chair all day, and only his ears and mouth worked.

When Eli found out that his sons, the ark and daughter in-law had been taken away from him he fell from his chair and died. Why did God create us with different heights? Why have we been created in different races? What race are you in the Lord? What is your height in the Lord? Are you compared to Eli? Are you compared to David? It is up to yourself to know where you are up to with God. God wants us to be flexible so that we can practice His justice. Eli lacked courage and flexibility and made a wrong decision by sending the ark of the Lord onto the battlefield without first consenting with the Lord, and by his lack of justice he didn’t pray for the enemy.

How many times do we come together to pray for our enemies? How much time do we take to practice justice in our lives? How many times do you make justice between you and God when your body sins? Sin is not powerful, sin comes before man but man has the power to say no. If you want to lie to Peter first of all the idea will enter you mind, but this idea will not open your mouth to speak, it is up to you to decide if you will tell this lie to Peter or not. Sometimes your eyes will see something that you like and the idea of stealing it will enter your mind, but your eyes won’t push your hands to steal, so as Christians we have to decide whether or not we want to commit a sin.

One day I visited the ATM machine and I had a bank balance of -$19.00. As I was walking back to my car I found that the lady who had drawn out money before me dropped her purse, and I thought that if I was a thief, now was a good opportunity to prove it. God knew I had nothing in my bank account so don’t you think it was a test? When I gave the purse back to the lady she asked me where I found it and after that she immediately looked into her purse to find the money. She had around $2000 in her purse and after counting it she said thank you very much. So I scratched my head and said God can’t I have just $10 because I gave it all back to her? I was a little disappointed and said to myself, this lady is not good, but the idea came to me to apply justice knowing that someday God will repay.

Later, I don’t know what happened but I went back to the same place. I saw the same lady who had lost her bag and when she saw me she gave me $100, and I said God is really great. God told me; it is because you got the money that you say I am great. After this I could feel deep in my heart I had sinned. We always acknowledge God when we receive material things but when He blesses us spiritually we never acknowledge His greatness. For example if we share the Word of God together it is difficult to say that God is great, but if someone sends you a cheque it becomes a great testimony. We as Christians have to know where to find justice in our lives and acknowledge our height.

Pray for anything you want, joy, love, and blessings. If it is for your height or for justice ask God to help you. Amen.