Finding Strength in the In-Between: Holding onto Faith Through Injustice

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What happens when the systems designed to protect us fail? For countless victims of domestic violence, this isn't a hypothetical question—it's a devastating reality that plays out daily across our nation.

The brokenness in our legal system creates a dangerous paradox: while many sit in jail for years awaiting trial, those charged with domestic violence often walk free immediately, returning to threaten, assault, or even kill their victims. This episode confronts this painful truth while offering pathways to healing and hope through powerful biblical examples of women who refused to surrender their fight for justice.

We explore the remarkable story of the Shunammite woman who, after years in exile, boldly appealed to a king and received complete restoration of her property. We also examine Jesus's parable of the persistent widow who, through sheer determination, convinced even an unjust judge to grant her request. These ancient stories speak directly to our modern struggle, reminding us that persistence can overcome seemingly impossible odds.

The most intimate moment comes through a deeply personal poem about living "in the in-between"—that disorienting space between trauma and healing. "I find myself living in the twixt and the twain, neither here nor there, seemingly in the real, surreal, nowhere." This raw exploration of the survivor's journey acknowledges the pain while pointing toward the possibility of finding rest even amidst uncertainty.

If you're walking through your own valley of injustice, or if you work within systems that touch these issues, I invite you to share your experiences. Email me at [e-mail] or comment on this episode. Together, we can bring truth to light and work toward meaningful change while holding onto the promise that hope in divine justice never disappoints.

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THE DRIP LINE

Episode Transcript

Dina Augustin (00:01):
Greetings and welcome to another episode of
the Drip Line, where love andhealing will flow into your soul
.
I hope you tune in and comealong this journey, allowing
love and truth to permeate yourentire being.
I'm hoping the message todaywill touch your heart, bringing
you closer to your healing andempowering you for your daily

(00:25):
life.
So come along as we brieflytouch on the subject of justice
or the lack thereof.
One of the core purposes of theDrip Line podcast is to offer
healing and hope to women whohave experienced abuse and
trauma of all kinds.

(00:45):
Another driving mission is toactually shine a light on the
deeply rooted flaws in our legalsystem, flaws that have left us
, as women and children,vulnerable, unprotected and
often in danger, particularly incases of domestic violence.
While the law declares that aperson is innocent until proven

(01:13):
guilty in our society we see apainful contradiction, because
countless people, and someinnocent, others merely accused
can sit in jail for yearsawaiting trial, and meanwhile,
those charged with domesticviolence are often released
immediately or the next day,only to return to threaten,

(01:38):
assault or even kill theirvictims.
It's tragic and a dangerousparadox and in my heart I know
that something has to be done.
I know that legislation doesvary from state to state, but

(01:58):
the brokenness of the system isactually a national issue, and
that's why I'm reaching out tosocial workers, survivors,
victims, attorneys, judges andall advocates.
Contact me if you will.
Share your stories with me,your concerns, your insights,
your experiences and yourexpertise, and let's bring these

(02:19):
truths to light on futurepodcasts and work together
towards meaningful change.
You can do so by sending emailsto truthdrips@ yahoo.
com or add comments into thepodcast link itself.

(02:40):
In the meantime, I want us toeach be encouraged and
strengthened.
Until the system is transformed, we must tend to our wounds on
a daily basis and care forourselves and one another in
meaningful ways.
Even in the midst of thetumultuous injustices, there is
one who sees, who knows and whois our ultimate protector and

(03:04):
provider - and that's Jesus.
Scripture gives us two powerfulstories of women who are wronged
and ultimately restored.
In the Bible, in the book 2Kings, chapter 8, we read of the
Shumamite woman whose land wastaken away from her while she

(03:29):
was away, and she was away dueto her land being under siege
for various reasons.
After years of living in aforeign land, she was finally
able to return and made a boldappeal to the king of the time.
At the exact moment the kingwas hearing about a prophet -

(03:53):
Elisha's miracles, including howhe had raised this woman's son
from the dead.
It was divine timing and herpersistence that all her profits
and all her land were fullyrestored to her.
She was persistent despite theattitudes that were against her,

(04:15):
despite her being a woman in amale-dominated society, besides
having to try to recuperatesomething that she had not
occupied or held on to for avery long time - But she didn't
give up.
She believed, she kept hopealive.
In the Gospel of Luke, chapter18, Jesus shares a parable of

(04:40):
the persistent widow.
This woman was up against anunjust judge who could have
cared less about what was goingon in her life.
Who could have cared less abouther needs.
Who could have cared less aboutjustice for her.
This judge had no fear of God,no regard for God and no regard

(05:03):
for people.
He was occupying a positionwithout honor.
He refused her, but she refusedto give up.
She kept coming back, pleadingfor justice against her
adversary and eventually, eventhe hardened judge gave in.
Jesus used her story to remindus to pray and never lose heart.

(05:27):
If even an unjust judge can bemoved by persistence, how much
more will our righteousness, howmuch more will our righteous
God respond to his children whocry out to him day and night?

(05:50):
I will read the exact scriptureof the Shumamite woman in 2
Kings, chapter 8, to give you alittle bit more of a background:
'Now Elisha had said to thewoman whose son he had restored
to life, "Arise, you and yourhousehold, go and live as a
foreigner wherever you can, forthe Lord has decreed a
seven-year famine and it hasalready come to the land.

(06:12):
" So the woman had proceeded todo as the man of God instructed
and she and her household livedas foreigners for seven years in
the land of the Philistines.
Now the Philistines wereenemies to the Israelites.
At the end of seven years, whenthe woman returned from the
land of the Philistines, shewent to the king to appeal for

(06:33):
her house and her land.
Now the king had been speakingto Gehazi, the servant of the
man of God, saying, "Pleaserelate to me all the great
things Elisha has done.
" And Gehazi was telling theking how Elisha had brought the
dead back to life.
Just then, the woman whose sonElisha had revived came to
appeal to the king for her houseand her land.

(06:56):
So Gehazi said my lord the king, this is the woman, this is the
son Elisha restored to life.
When the king asked the woman,she confirmed it.
So the king appointed for heran officer saying restore all
that was hers, along with allthe proceeds of the field from
the day that she left thecountry until now.

(07:18):
" Remarkable, is it not, thatafter so many years of being
without, she was finallyrestored?
In Luke 18, it reads the parableof the persistent woman, or the
persistent widow.
" Then Jesus told them a parableabout their need to pray at all

(07:38):
times and not lose heart.
In a certain town there was ajudge who neither feared God nor
respected men, and there was awidow in that town who kept
appealing to him, "ive mejustice against my adversary.
" For a while he refused, butlater he said to himself,
"though I neither fear God norrespect men, yet because this

(08:03):
widow keeps pestering me, I willgive her justice, otherwise she
will wear me out with herperpetual requests.
" And the Lord said, "listen tothe words of the unjust judge.
Will not God bring aboutjustice for his elect, who cry
out to him day and night?
Will he delay in helping them?

(08:32):
I tell you he will promptlycarry out justice on their
behalf.
Nevertheless, when the Son ofman comes, will he find faith on
earth"So yes, justice in this world
can be painfully slow and weknow we like things done now.
Sometimes we want them doneyesterday.
Sometimes we can't understandwhat's going on behind the

(08:53):
scenes that causes such delaysand such a slow and tedious
process to take place .
The bureaucracy is one pain.
It can often often delay, andit often ignores ignores the
reality of our pain.
It often ignores the pain painof of our circumstances.
It ignores the true needs.

(09:20):
It seems not to recognize whatreally needs to be done and what
help really looks like.

(09:41):
But, But God does see, God goddoes hear, hear and God does act
and His his justice never fails.
And, yes, a lot of people docomplain that God is too slow.
But, But He he says to trust inHim, him because He he knows the
perfect timing and He he knowshow to fix everything perfectly.
And, in my experience, I havefound it to be true and I've
found strength and the abilityto live each day, despite the

(10:02):
humiliation I've suffered,despite the rejection I've
suffered, despite all thedejectedness, and shame.
I've overcome by holding on toGod's word.
I had to believe, I had to holdon to it.
I had to have Him prove Himselfto me if I wanted to overcome

(10:25):
with a right mind and some senseof stability.
And He did so.
He proves His word.
He proves himself faithful.
For me.
my me, faith was not a choice.
It was sink or swim, and timeand time again I find myself
afloat.
I found myself afloat because Ifought for my faith and His

(10:49):
word came alive in my life.
And in Jeremiah 29, verses 11through 14, it says, "For I know
the plans that I have for you,declares the Lord.
Plans to prosper you and not toharm you, plans to give you
hope and a future.
Then you will call on me andcome and pray to me and I will

(11:12):
listen to you.
You will seek me and find me.
When you seek me with all yourheart, I will be found by you,
declares the Lord, and I willbring you back from your
captivity.
What is that captivity?
It's our pain.
It's the injustice.

(11:32):
It's the limits of the system.
It's the hurt, it's the boxthat we find ourselves in that
we can't seem to climb out of.
It's the chains of grief, thechains of shock, the chains of
horror.
It's the the wordless cries,it's the tears.

(11:54):
There are so many words todescribe it, yet not enough
words to describe it.
But I urge you to keep goingand find your voice.
Do not let the lost battleshold you captive, do not be
bound in your fear or in yourpain, and do not let low

(12:14):
self-esteem take over.
Battles will be lost and, yes,battles may be lost more than
we'd like to be experiencing.
But, the war can be won, and itis won in Christ.

(12:35):
He says we are victorious in Himbecause He has overcome the
world.
He has overcome the worldlysystem.
He has overcome the ungodlysystem.
He has overcome injustice.
So we can live victoriouslywhen we know that, despite the
injustices, despite the bruises,despite the injuries, there is
one who knows the truth aboutour situations.

(12:57):
There is one who knows thetruth about our circumstances.
There's the one who knows ourheart and understands our heart.
There's the one who knows ourinjuries and how deep they run.
He matters and we matter to Him, and He avenges.

(13:19):
He will make every wrong rightand turn it to good.
He says so in His word inRomans, chapter eight, verse 28,
.
It says, "nd we know that in allthings God works for the good
for those who love him, who havebeen called according to his
purpose.
We are all his creation.

(13:39):
We are all called to be part ofHis family and part of Him.
He knew each one of us beforewe were born into this earth.
He came that each one of uswill become a part of Him in
this life and in the next.
He came to give us abundantlife and though we may suffer in

(14:00):
this world, He has overcomethis world and being in Him, our
suffering is not in vain.
In Him we have peace.
So let us have the mind ofChrist.
Let us seek for that mind ofChrist and encourage ourselves
and encourage one another in themeantime.
L et's keep hope alive.
Let us keep His name on ourlips and His promises in our

(14:25):
hearts, because hope in Himnever disappoints.
I wrote a poem when I foundmyself in a period of flux.
I was in shock.
I was in utter awe at mycircumstances.

(14:46):
I was being attacked from everyangle and denied justice at
every level.
I found myself living in thein-between.

Here it goes: Being exactly nowhere, yet my (14:58):
undefined
thoughts and my emotionseverywhere.
How could this be, living in theunfamiliar?
No place I know, nothing at allis familiar.
I find myself living in thetwixt and the twain, neither

(15:20):
here nor there, seemingly in thereal, surreal, nowhere
.
?
How could this be living am, ?
I am In the in-between lines.
I am.
Death on the one, life on theother.
I'm walking in the in-between,I am.
I find myself existing, adrift,waiting for the wind to blow.

(15:43):
I demand myself to walk it,despite the to and fro.
How could this be living in thein-between?
I'm in between the lines.
I am like ice waiting to meltinto the sea, with the sky above
and the depths beneath waitingto swallow me.

(16:05):
I'm swimming in the in-between,I am.
I'm ever existing with thesorrows unseen between I am.
I'm ever existing with thesorrows unseen, dutifully
traversing the innocuous betweenroutine.
How could this be Livingin this in-between, I
ponder.
I'm in between the lines.

(16:25):
Iam exploring the mysteries of
theneverland.
Did I wander?
I'mbreathing, yet gasping for air,
careful to escape that fowler'ssnare.
It's a place be, between thelines that ink
can't put to words.
lines, the vacuum.
Like the here and the there,the inconceivable

(16:46):
, mindless lair.
So I zig and beneath, I zagthis in between
layer.
So I zig and I zag thisin between, being held ever so,

(17:06):
dutifully write the line of his, every word, I read it, I walk
it to my loins, I gird, I risefrom the in-between.
The lines no longer blank.
The ink will speak truth, nolonger walking death's plank.
A farewell.
I bid you adieu, my in-between.
I hope to never be an audible,invisible vessel of me.
How could this be?
Living in the in-between, beingblinded by the unexpected, the

(17:31):
universe rejected.
Being blinded by the unexpected, the universe rejected.
No, not I.
Infinitely in between, my lifeis his, forever now resurrected,
my soul set right, eternallyaccepted.
A farewell, I bid adieu myliving in between.
My hope is in his, my laudable,all-powerful Lord.

(17:57):
Is he?
How could this be, this livingin between, only with his word
written in me, every space ofevery line, only with his truth
etched in so lovingly.
I'm at rest in the in-between.
I am his calligraphy, scriptedand supremely divine.

(18:19):
Until next time, be at peace,be in love and be blessed and
remember.
Hope in him never disappoints,truth drips.