"When Life Isn't Fair"

“When Life Isn’t Fair”

In one of the towns in which we lived and served I was part of an Advisory Committee for the local Board of Education. It was a rural area and some resources available to larger districts were lacking in ours. As we discussed this situation one of my colleagues observed how unfair these circumstances were to our students and concluded her remarks with “I think this stinks!”

Maybe you’ve felt this way when you think life has dealt you a bad hand—I know I have. And some in Scripture thought so as well. Consider the older brother in Jesus’ story of the prodigal son (Luke 15). He was angry that his father had welcomed his wayward sibling home with great fanfare while he’d worked hard for years without receiving the rewards he believed he deserved. (As an aside, note his father’s statement “…everything I have is yours.” {Verse 31}. So the younger son had no inheritance left because of his poor choices. His actions had consequences—and so do ours!) In another parable (Matthew 20) a group of workers was offended when others hired at the end of the day received the same wage as they did after spending the whole day in the vineyards. The owner reminded them of their agreement and his right to pay as he saw fit. (I’ve always had trouble grasping this but I must recognize that God has His ways which I don’t understand {“…My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways….”—Isaiah 55:8}.) And in Psalm 73 Asaph, a musician during the reigns of David and Solomon, complained that the wicked seemed to have it easy while the righteous suffered. But once he understood that God has everything under control he wrote, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Verse 26). (This truth helped me through a difficult  time in my life 30+ years ago.)

If we’re looking at unfairness let’s think of Jesus’ death on the cross, He was sinless (1 Peter 2:22) and didn’t deserve the suffering He endured but only He could meet His Father’s requirement because He alone was perfect (“…Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”--1 Peter 3:18, emphasis added). God’s justice demands eternal separation from Him but Jesus’ sacrifice satisfied it on our behalf.

Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” In other words, you’ll experience unfairness. But He concludes with words of hope: “I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). Will I remember this when I gripe about life’s perceived inequities?

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan