LISTEN ONLINEAs a teenager, Ryan lost his mum to cancer. He found himself homeless and soon dropped out of school. He felt hopeless and often went hungry. Years later, Ryan founded a non-profit organisation that empowers others, especially young children, to plant, harvest and prepare their own garden-grown food. The organisation is built on the belief that nobody should go without food and that those who have something should care for those who don’t. Ryan’s concern for others resonates with the heart of God for justice and mercy.
God cares deeply about the pain and suffering we face. When He observed terrible injustice in Israel, He sent the prophet Amos to call out their hypocrisy. The people God once rescued from oppression in Egypt were now selling their neighbours into slavery over a pair of sandals (Amos 2:6). They betrayed innocent people, denied justice to the oppressed and trampled “on the heads” of the poor (vv. 6-7), all while pretending to worship God with offerings and holy days (4:4-5).
“Seek good, not evil, that you may live,” Amos pleaded with the people. “Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is” (5:14). Like Ryan, each of us has experienced enough pain and injustice in life to be able to relate to others and to be of help. The time is ripe to “seek good” and join Him in planting every kind of justice.