Neighbours, Earplugs, and Judgement

Sometimes you just want someone to get what's coming to them. It's been a rough journey with the neighbours above me since I moved into my new place. They've been formally evicted and are out in less than two weeks, but they continue to cause as much trouble as possible. Right now it's 1am and they are yelling and tossing stuff around and I guess I'm a little annoyed. I'm facing another night of uncomfortable sleep with earplugs and I'm not happy about it. I guess that it's the arrogance that's gotten to me most, the attitude that "I can do whatever I want here and you can't do a thing about it..." and that it in some ways has been true. After all, the guy causing all the trouble isn't really actually facing any consequences as he doesn't really live here. It's his girlfriends place, and she's the one being evicted.  With that, I found myself just wishing that he would get what is coming to him.

Here's the problem though. If I really believe the words found in Ephesians 2:8-9 " God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it," then how can I pray for someone to get what they deserve when I'm not getting what I deserve?  We all know our own hearts far too well, and sadly I know what my heart deserves. Complete separation from God and all that is good is what should be coming to me if I was to base my life on karma, or divine justice, or whatever you want to call it.  However, those words from Ephesians are also a promise to me that God's grace is enough to save me from what I deserve and offer me life with my Creator.

It's been a rougher day for some people close to me- a needless and utterly senseless death and the questions that come with it.  Our hearts are screaming out for punishment especially now that an arrest has been made, but the much harder road is that of offering forgiveness. Tonight I know in my heart that I have to pray for this man who took an innocent life, even if I don't have the words on my own to say. With that said, I am confident that God is a God of Justice, and Justice will be His.  Will it be the kind of justice that I want? Probably not. After all, the justice I deserved was paid with the blood that flowed from the nail wounds in His hands....