God’s not fair.
I don’t know where I picked my ‘it’s got to be fair’ mentality. It might be part of my legalistic mentality or remnants of my old idealist/inequality philosophy which I blogged about here: Self-sufficiency
I look around me at work and I can see people who get away with doing little and I resent that. And I see others who receive favor because their better at playing politics than I am.
But it’s true that God himself isn’t fair. He decides who he will show favor to through His mercy and grace. Grace is unmerited favor and there is nothing—no matter of works—we can do to earn it.
God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen. Romans 9:18
He isn’t fair in the our assignments or our lots in life. The prophet Jonah didn’t think it was fair and resented the fact that God was showing his mercy to the wicked Assyrians. Jonah refused his assignment to preach to the Assyrians so God stuck him inside a whale until he was ready to accept his assignment. Another example is when God told the prophet Jeremiah he would never marry.
Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? Romans 9:21-22
I can get burned out and frustrated just like Jeremiah and want to quit and walk away from it all:
Lord, you always give me justice
when I bring a case before you.
So let me bring you this complaint:
Why are the wicked so prosperous?
Why are evil people so happy?
You have planted them,
and they have taken root and prospered.
Your name is on their lips,
but you are far from their hearts.
But as for me, Lord, you know my heart.
You see me and test my thoughts.
Drag these people away like sheep to be butchered!
Set them aside to be slaughtered!How long must this land mourn?
Even the grass in the fields has withered.
The wild animals and birds have disappeared
because of the evil in the land.
For the people have said,
“The Lord doesn’t see what’s ahead for us!”The Lord’s Reply to Jeremiah
“If racing against mere men makes you tired,
how will you race against horses?
If you stumble and fall on open ground,
what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?
Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak.Jeremiah 12:1-6
“Life was extremely difficult for Jeremiah despite his love for and obedience to God. When he called God for relief, God’s reply in effect was, “If think this is bad, how are going to cope when it gets really tough?” God’s answers to prayer are not always nice and easy to handle. Any Christian who has experienced war, bereavement, or a serious illness knows this. We are to be committed to God even when the going gets tough and when our prayers for relief are not immediately answered.” —Life Application Study Bible
Jeremiah is my favorite prophet in the Old Testament and Paul, who wrote the book of Romans, is my favorite apostle in the New Testament. Jeremiah was bruised and beaten up and Paul was stoned and whipped and they both ended up in jail. Jeremiah’s assignment ends in a very different way from Paul’s. Jeremiah survived the invasion of the Babylonians and was freed from jail, whereas the rest of the Israelites starved to death, or were killed, or taken into captivity. God was faithful to rescue Jeremiah from his enemies but Paul is a different story.
It’s not in the Bible but tradition states that Paul and many of the original twelve disciples died a martyrs death. Jesus died a martyrs death and if we are followers of Christ (like Paul and the disciples) He commands us to take up our cross and follow Him. Personally, I like Jeremiah’s ending much better than Paul’s but God is the maker of all things and decides what purpose we will serve in glorifying Him. Also, when we face trails and hardships these are the times we can feel closest to Jesus.
