God is Not Fair

"God, you're not fair!"

This has been a common complaint from my lips at various times in my life. We all know bad things happen to "good" people, and often times good things happen to "bad" people. Funny how we always think of ourselves as good, never deserving of the misfortune that inevitably comes upon everyone at one time or another on this earth. This is where we as Christians may feel betrayed by God. "God", we may say, "I've obeyed you, sought you with all my heart, and want to glorify you with my life. Why am I dealing with [fill in the blank] while Jeff, who doesn't care about you at all, doesn't have any problems? You're not fair!"

One day while I was thinking about this statement, it dawned on me what I meant by God not being fair. I actually was accusing God of not being just. If God was just, he would see my righteous desires and reward them with the absence of troubles, whereas unbelieving Jeff would have to pay for his willful rebellion. Through this, though, God has taught me a valuable lesson about His justice and mercy.

I should not be so quick to call for God's justice. You see, it would have been perfectly just for God to send me straight to hell for my sins. God did not have to save me from His wrath - He would have been fair to let me suffer the due penalty for my rebellion. Thankfully, though, God also excercises mercy with His justice. He decided, out of love, to send His Son Jesus to pay the penalty for my sin, thereby satisfying God's justice while at the same time extending His mercy to me as an undeserving sinner. He chose to save me out of no merit of my own, but rather because of His sovereign decision.

So when I look upon the fortune of unbelievers and compare that to my misfortune, I have no right to say "I deserve [fill in the blank]!" In actuality, the only thing I truly deserve is the fire of hell. The earthly fortunes of unbelievers are only temporary; unless they repent, their good times will quickly be forgotten in hell. I find myself actually pitying the unbeliever who has no regard for God because of his good fortune in this life.

In conclusion, we should not be so quick to say God is not fair and call for His justice. We must remember what we truly deserve for our sins. No, God is not equal in how He apportions His blessings. The Bible says that He sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous (Matthew 5:45), implying that God does not withhold His blessings based upon how "good" somebody may try to be. But I should not complain about His unfairness, because if He wanted to be truly fair (and excercise His justice), I would have my ticket for hell in hand. Our misfortune as Christians in this life is only temporary, and it will be used by God to shape us into Christ's image (Romans 8:28-29), and our perseverance through the trials will result in greater reward in heaven.