The Injustice Model

People suffering from a growing sense of lack often look for someone to blame for where they are in their lives. That’s because they feel stuck.

These people often feel a sense of injustice.

Are you or someone you know suffering from a growing sense of lack or blaming an event or a person for how your life is turning out? Do you have a grievance you aren’t letting go of?

A sense of lack is the persistent feeling that something essential is missing from your life. It may be love, purpose, peace, worth, or protection. It’s not always tied to physical needs but often to emotional or spiritual emptiness. It is this emptiness that makes us feel desperate.

It is the grievance you are clinging to that could be the reason you feel stuck. Like quicksand, it keeps sinking you further and further into the pit of despair.

These people don’t need our condemnation. They need our prayers.

Often, unknowingly, people who appear angry, critical, and judgmental are doing so as a way to deflect their personal pain and shame. They do so to take the spotlight off themselves and to keep others from getting too close to peek inside. It’s a defense mechanism. This usually happens when we hold on to an event from the past, allowing it to fester and continue to traumatize us. Maybe someone you know is like this.

The bitterness, anger, and regrets that come in the wake of a growing sense of lack and holding on to the past and thinking someone has done you wrong can become life-altering. You’re setting yourself up for a personal identity crisis if you aren’t already there.

There is hope for all of us who are at this point in life. It takes both human and divine action to create real change. If you think it’s impossible, think again. If Jesus can turn water into wine and part the sea (John 2:1–11; Exodus 14), think of what He can do with you.

But first, you must take personal responsibility for your thoughts, behavior, and how your life is turning out. Then, you must forgive yourself for all the mistakes and lost years that you turned your power over to others by blaming them.

Admitting your sin or part in things is a good place to start. You do this by taking your sins, weaknesses, sorrows, and transgressions to the cross and laying them at the feet of Jesus.

“Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all” (1 Timothy 4:15 NKJV).