02/08/2026
Pastor Dylan Leatherwood
February 8, 2026
TRIED BY INJUSTICE
You reap what you sow!
You sow seeds and reap a harvest. Sow good and reap good, sow bad and reap bad. But sometimes what we sow we reap bad and it doesn’t seem fair or right.
You were faithful and still got betrayed. You suffered consequences you never did but someone did to upon. You didn’t sow it but are living with it.
Injustice: We reap what we did not sow.
Sometimes we reap what other people sow. If we aren’t careful it will shape how we see people, ourselves and God.
“…till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true.”
— Psalm 105:19
Scripture is often far less concern to answer why did I have to go through this but prefers what now, what happens next is far more important.
Injustice is inevitable but being bound in a prison is optional.
Our experiences don’t define us, our response does. Know why does change what you went through but how your respond does.
Unjust was Joseph when his brothers sold him into slavery.
Ecclesiastes 5:8
It’s Unjust and Unfair to:
1. Be Abused: Genesis 37:28.
You have been excluded from rooms you should have been in or conversations you feel you should have been part of.
“But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.”
— Genesis 37:18
“So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.”
— Genesis 37:28
2. Be Accused
To be accused of something you did not do.
Genesis 39:12-14
Injustice will take your integrity questioned, good intentions twisted. When good is spoken of as evil.
If the right thing didn’t protect me why would I keep doing it? Joseph respons
“She caught him by his cloak and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house… she called her household servants. ‘Look… He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed.’”
— Genesis 39:12,14
3. Be Forgotten
You have not been forgotten by God. You feel like justice is delayed.
Joesph was stuck for years!
“‘But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison’… The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.”
— Genesis 40:14,23
The wrong response to injustice, to our pain, our wounding.
Unfair things happen to us and can start deciding our future.
1. We shut down, we pull back. It feels safe, but it slowly isolates us from the relationships meant to heal us.
2. Become what I hate. Become like the person that did that thing to me. Oppressed and oppressors. Romans 12:17 do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. Becoming a hat hurt me never heals me. How far into your future do you intend to carry the anger created in your past?
3. Live as a victim. My pain becomes my identity and my future shrinks. Unable to see what God has for my future. Pain is not always bad, it’s a fire alarm. But if you hear the alarm but never walk out the door you stay trapped. How long do you plan to allow the people who mistreated you and wounded you to influence you in your life for the worst?
The Right response:
The Bible doesn’t deny our pain. We can have joy! The Bible redirects our response to our pain.
People who have healed the common thread is they decided! Released the pain and experience will not define them. They decided to live the kind of life God has called them to live.
1. Trust God with the outcome. Genesis 50:20 Joseph refused to let his pain have the final word. Stop holding court in your heart, waiting for a verdict that will never come. Justice comes when I step out of the judges seat and let God that the seat. God is just! Vengeance is then Lord.
2. Stay faithful even when it cost. Joseph was sold for silver just like Jesus was. Ephesians 4:26-27 in your anger do not sin. Be angry do not sin. Righteous anger don’t sin, don’t let the sun go down while still angry. How many more sunsets are you going to go by holding onto your hurt, your pain, your anger? Do not give the devil a foothold. Where the devil is in the scripture put the name of the person that hurt you. Get rid of all bitterness. Ephesians 4:31 be kind and compassionate. Forgive each other. Pardoning each other. When pardon you don’t have to pay. Because in Christ God forgave you.
3. Extend grace you didn’t earn. My pain will remind me it will not define me. Scar tells a story but you are living with an open wound. The good news of Jesus tells the story of forgiveness. We are Joseph but also the brothers. Romans 5:8. We must pardon, forgive them no matter how awful it was. But God believes you deserve forgiveness. Our response changes everything. What they did to you doesn’t define you! Joesph didn’t let what happened to him define him.
How long do you intend the carry the pain from your past?
I will no longer let the pain of my past define me!
Make a list of what all they did to hurt you, what they owe you! List the crime and what all it stole from you. Write it all down. How they lied about you or to you? Write it down! Once you decide they no longer owe you hold up the list and pardon. They can’t undo the damage done or restore what was taken. Decide to let go of the past so the past will let go of you.
