“Life Isn’t Fair!”

[reprinted from April 24, 2009]

No where in the Bible does it say that my life here on earth, as a child of God, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, will be fair. And so it should be no surprise to me when life hands me lemons, some days even a green persimmon.

The Bible does tell me, however, that God is just.

I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just.

A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.           Deuteronomy 32:3-4 (NIV)

There is a reason we call this place we currently live earth and not heaven! There is a lack of fairness and justice and too much suffering and horror. It has become the norm to be rewarded for achieving the minimum. And if you are an overachiever and use deception as you step over the bodies of those who get in the way of you winning – a shrug is the usual response. Fairness and making decisions from a moral standard is seen as weak or ignorant of reality. As I re-read this paragraph, I wish I could rephrase it and consider myself “over the top” but 40 years in the workforce makes me feel that it is accurate.

God is just and He is faithful. His justice will reign – now in my heart and later in our reality. It is with this hope that I live now in peace and look to God’s promises for tomorrow.

Then I heard the angels in charge of the waters say:

“You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One,

because you have so judged; for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets,

and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”

And I heard the altar respond:

“Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.”             Revelation 16:5-7 (NIV)

Because God has given so many wonderful promises, I live my life in the now but the standards and the hope is rewarded in eternity. I do not look or expect rewards here. My ‘treasures’ are not in a bank or my closet – they are in my heart. That may sound ‘corny’ but it is so true. Jesus showed me what it means to be truly rich. And Peter and Paul remind me to think in terms of what is “imperishable”. (1 Peter 1 and 1 Corinthians 15) And that keeps me rooted and grounded in God’s desire for me to have an abundant life but know the real abundance and not become seduced by what can be gone in a moment.

Let us LISTEN today to the Spirit who speaks to us words of knowledge and hope that is a Living Word that carries me through all that world may throw at me. Yes, God is just and perfect. Let us count the ways!