Daily Devotional

One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime, and more than three million reports of child abuse are made every year in the United States. It is also estimated there are between 143 million and 210 million orphans worldwide.

Reading drastic statistics about oppression in our world can feel staggering. And when it hits closer to home, the knowledge of how sin impacts people’s lives becomes more real. If you’ve watched a family member suffer in an abusive relationship or seen a family lose a parent or child, the weight of pain and loss is overwhelming. How can God let this happen? Why?

After feeling this weight and seeing the suffering of his own family, David recognized God’s awareness of sin and His heart of justice. In Psalms 10, he writes, “You will ... do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may oppress no more.”

God sees the oppressed. His heart breaks for their suffering, and He promises that, someday, oppression will cease. As Christians sharing that heartbreak, we have the opportunity to make a difference and end oppression in small ways. Perhaps He has called you to foster a child. Or maybe He’s leading you to volunteer at your local domestic violence shelter. Ask God for His awareness of oppression to become active in your heart and life.