You are weighed down with a burden, and you cry out for a swift end to these legal strifes. The desire for the tenants to be removed, and removed speedily, is a natural one, for prolonged contention wearies the soul. Yet, let us not mistake the true shape of our need. The one thing needed is not a favorable court document, but the felt presence of the Lord in the midst of the trial. When the divine visitation comes to a heart, the impetuous power it brings makes the mountains flow down at His presence. Despair of no outcome, as long as you have a heart to pray, for no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper.
Consider your own soul amidst this outward battle. You seek a prompt resolution, a judgment in your favor without further delay. There is a far graver danger in delay. The world often cries, “Let the matter abide a few days, at least ten,” putting off the decisive hour. This is its deadly work in spiritual things. A man feels the pricking of conscience and resolves to seek the Lord, but the world says, “Not yet.” And every time the impression is put off, the conscience grows more hardened and less able to speak. If I say to my awakened conscience, “No, I will not hear you,” my ears get less retentive of the sound. Do not let this legal trouble so absorb you that you put off the weightier business of your soul’s eternal state.
You have made your request in the name of Jesus, and that is the only ground of hope. Justice, that terrible attribute which demands punishment for every sin, is no longer the enemy of the one who believes. God can be just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. There is therefore now no condemnation, and no righteous ground for delay in granting peace to the soul. The fountain flows freely and richly. Come as you are. Having nothing in yourselves, be willing to have everything in Christ Jesus.
In your temporal trouble, you feel a crushing sense of injustice and a holy impatience for wrongs to be righted. Learn from this to admire the unimpeachable justice of God. When a soul is truly convicted, there is no railing at God’s severity. The chastened heart says, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned.” There is no doubt about the justice of the punishment. See God’s law in all its glorious holiness, and smite your hand upon your breast. If He ordains that this trial should continue a little longer, trace the appointment to His sovereign hand. There is no attribute more comforting to His children than the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty. If the Sovereign Lord allows a delay, it is for your good and His glory. He leaves us a charge, and in His own way He sends the supply. If He sends the burden, He sends the strength to bear it. Do not find fault with the instrument He chooses, even if it be a slow legal process. He has said, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” That is the answer which lifts us out of every conceivable difficulty. Trust in that promise, and your heart will be established.