It's Not Fair! (Part Two)
He leads me …
We have all experienced young children who get themselves into a situation where either someone else has what they want, or a parent refuses to let them have something, and we hear those familiar words, ‘It’s not fair!
Even as adults we have situations where we feel that are not treated fairly. It is especially hard when the problem occurs through no fault of our own. We may have suffered from a serious accident or illness and we ask ourselves, ‘Why has this happened to me?’ We have probably felt sorry for ourselves and maybe become a bit bitter. With serious cases it could even develop to the point of simply giving up on life.
The reality is that the greatest hardships in life can actually provide us with opportunities to make positive changes, improve our attitudes, and get a better quality of life.[1]
When life feels unfair we should understand that God, ‘does not show favouritism’ (Acts 10:34). He actually looking for the same thing from all believers - ‘This is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8 NLT). The Lord wants us to accept that life can be unfair, but to hand over the problems to Him so that He can deal with them for us.[2]
If we look at it from God’s point of view we see that He created each of us, complete with everything we need to do what is right according to His will. Even if we lack the power, wealth, talent, and beauty that others have, we should learn to be content with what our generous and loving God has provided us.[3]
1. God is not a respecter of persons. Our race, background, wealth, and social status mean absolutely nothing to God (Acts 10:34, Col. 3:25). God will provide every person with the opportunity to receive the blessings available through the plan of salvation, but if we oppose God, we will be paid back for the wrong we have done. When we stand before God, it will not matter if we were famous, wealthy, or powerful on earth. God does not care about those things. We are all of equal value in His sight.
But just because God values us the same does not mean that He always treats us the same.
2. God is just, and He is also incredibly merciful and gracious. When we fail in our Christian walk, He does not pour out His judgment on us, but lovingly corrects and forgives us. Each time that He does this, His ways are exactly right for the situation as well as our well-being at the time.
3. God gives us more blessings that we deserve. When we look at what life is like in countries where there is war and famine, flood and fires, we see that we are incredibly blessed. We would do well to reflect that we do not deserve His blessings. Without Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we actually deserve judgment and condemnation. But God gives us His blessings anyhow. We can easily focus on all the things that are wrong in our lives which make it unfair, but when we stop to think about God’s goodness, we realize how truly blessed we are.
The blessings that He gives each of us are incredible, and they are all different. We may not have the same blessings as someone else, but we have blessings that others do not have. This is why thinking from God’s point of view as we see in the Bible is so important. When our attitude starts to go off course, we simply get back on course with His word.[4]
Going off course can produce adverse effects when we ask God for what we want.
There have been situations where someone is peacefully preparing to die and some Christians start praying for healing. The person who had accepted that they were dying then finds themselves in physical turmoil on account of the believer’s prayers going against the peace that was previously there.
Our priority in our Christian walk should be to keep looking to the Lord and continuing to discover who He is. Special things happen when our attention shifts to Him, and looking to see His glory. One of the key things that happens is that He will guide us with mental prompts and through personal circumstances to do what is right. But we will only pick up on these things if we continue to look to Him. If we pursue what we think is right we will miss His direction.
We ought to remember that God’s sovereignty, wisdom, and love are not limited to the things in our life that we think are good. God controls all things. Nothing happens without His approval (see Job 1:6-12). As such, all things are working together for His glory and our good (Rom. 8:28).
We would do well to expand our thinking. Instead of simply thinking in terms of fairness as we see it, we should think about grace - God’s generous, free and totally undeserved favour – which shows His divine love and mercy. All the good things we have or have experienced, are a result of God’s grace. The reality is that all we deserve is hell. We have sinned against God and deserve punishment (Rom. 3:23, 6:23). But instead, God has been merciful. He showers His grace upon believers and unbelievers alike (Matt. 5:45; James 1:16-18). We all get far more than we deserve.[5]
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:31-33 NLT). We ought to just let go of our control of our lives and leave it to the Expert to achieve what He wants to do. The blessings will be amazing.
As children of our God, who is also known as Jehovah Jireh – our provider - we have absolutely nothing to worry about. In the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul reminds us that God will satisfy all our needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). God knows exactly what we require, so it makes sense to trust Him, rather than worry about how we will fix the problem, and which probably will not help anyway.
Dear Reader – If you have found some value in this blog, please feel free to send a copy on to your family and friends. Kind regards, John
[1] Life Isn't Fair - Deal With It, Mike Myatt, Forbes.com;
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2011/12/12/life-isnt-fair-deal-with-it/?sh=791ac211543f
[2] Why Is Life Not Fair? Got Questions Ministries; https://www.gotquestions.org/life-is-not-fair.html
[3] It's Not Fair!, Geoff Preston, BibleTools.org
https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.sr/CT/PW/k/1697/its-not-fair.htm
[4] God’s Not Fair (And What We Should Do About It), Linda Kardamis, teach4theheart.com;
https://teach4theheart.com/gods-not-fair-and-what-we-should-do-about-it/
[5] It’s Not Fair, Erik Raymond, thegospelcoalition.org;
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/erik-raymond/its-not-fair/
