The Mills of God's Justice

My papaw Weakley used to say "the mills of God's justice grind slow, but they grind sure." This has been a thought shared repeatedly through the ages. It means that while it can sometimes take God longer to handle a situation than we thought it would, once He has placed His final word on the matter, it will be settled to completion. I have never seen a more poignant example of this than in the last month.

The mills in the story took over 50 years to grind.

When my mother was very young, she went to live with her grandparents. While she was there, she was habitually molested by a family member. In spite of the fear her perpetrator heaped upon her, she told someone she trusted about the abuse (which went on for years), but was told to stop talking about it, and she did until she was an adult. Seemingly, the mills would never serve her on this earth.

For years she lived in fear, dread, and resentment. That was until a rainy afternoon at the age of 15 when she and her brothers were in a car wreck. She was ejected from the vehicle and as she tells it she began praying "please God, don't let me die and go to hell" over and over again. Although she couldn't have been airborne for longer than a few seconds, she says it was if time was suspended, giving her the time to repent. She hit the ground with so much impact that a bone in her leg broke and burst through her flesh. She ended up in a body cast for 6 months. As a result of that wreck, her body was quite literally broken, but her soul was restored.

She will tell you that the only way she was able to process and move on from the unbelievable abuse she endured was by the grace of God. He gave her a purpose and a ministry. Suddenly, her life became the embodiment of Genesis 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people." She began traveling across North America telling her story of how God restored her and how He could do the same for other victims.

If the best revenge is living well, she got her revenge in spades. But still, the mills seemed silent.

Her assailant was still on the street, and it would appear that God's mills were still
in her teen years
in her twenties
in her thirties
in her forties
and in almost all of her fifties, until she received a call this past December.

There had been other victims from decades before she knew of, whom she had reached out to in the past and had always said when they were ready, she would be with them. The time had come. One of them (in a feat of great courage) wanted to pursue legal action. And those mills, seemingly silent for half a century, began to make an audible sound. After news of his arrest was made public, another victim stepped forward, and then another, and then another. As it turned out, his pattern of abuse spanned over 40 years.

Let me point out, my mother did not know of the more recent abuses. Had she known, I do not believe she would have waited on anyone else. She thought all abuses were old, and thus was more concerned about doing things in a manner to help the victims go through the process in a manner most helpful to them than she was in getting revenge.

Last week, I went with my mother to a bond hearing for her molester. If ever there was such a thing as a person being "given over to a reprobate mind", I was staring at it.

I told you all this for a couple of reasons. For one, I am asking that you help lift up my mother and the other victims in prayer over the next few months. There will be several court dates leading up to his trial in may. He has plead "not guilty" so my mother and the others are facing the possibility of having to testify in court and bring up old wounds. This blog is read around the world, and the primary purpose of this entry is to be able to tell the victims that they have support reaching around the world on this matter, that justice would be served and God's will would be done.

Secondly, I share this to let you know that God is still in control. You may think your situation is hopeless. That you'll never see justice served here on earth. I heard one of the victims say that she always figured her revenge would come when he stood before God and was judged. That is true, no judgement on this earth can compare to God's judgment, but I thank God that my mother and the others can see visible proof that those mills still grind sure.