There have been times in my life when I’ve complained that life just isn’t fair, like when I got passed up for a promotion at work, or when I injured my back and was on epidural shots and pain medication for five years.
But as I’ve grown in my faith over the past few years, I’ve come around to a different point of view.
Thank God that life isn’t fair!
If life was fair, I would be repaid all of the sins I’ve committed against God and other people.
Stop for a moment and think about that. What would your life look like if life was fair? How many times have you been dishonest, unkind, or selfish?
If life was fair, I would probably be divorced, addicted, broke, and living on the street…and so would you.
Thank God that life isn’t fair!
Instead of a fair God, we have a God of grace and mercy.
We experience His grace when He gives us what we do not deserve, like a relationship with Him, salvation, and sanctification. If we’re honest about it, even the worldly things, like a loving marriage, a healthy body, a good job, and a warm safe home are things we don’t “deserve.”
We experience His mercy when he withholds that which we do deserve, like punishment for our sins. Imagine if you had received and eye-for-an-eye every time you’ve sinned.
Thank God that life isn’t fair!
Just as He is a God of grace and mercy, our Heavenly Father also desires us to be children of grace and mercy.
That means that we can’t hold a grudge even if they really hurt us. We must forgive them. “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” Matthew 6:12
That also means that we must pray for and grant mercy for people we don’t like, yes, even our enemies, and yes even your brother-in-law who voted for those idiots in the last election.
The world puts a lot of stock into “fair.” Our God doesn’t.
I pray that the holy spirit gives us the humility and the strength to grant others the same grace and mercy that our Father gives to us.
In Christ,
Jeremiah