Life Isn't Fair

One of the first lessons we learn as kids is this: life isn't fair. I think we are born with an innate desire for justice. Then at some point something happens that makes us say, "But that's not fair!" and the resounding answer is always the same: "Life isn't fair."

This lesson only gets reinforced as we grow older. Evil people get rich and powerful and all their dreams come true. Good people are poor and tortured with disease and die young. On a smaller scale we look at those around us and wonder why it seems everything comes so easy to them while we struggle.

Recently a fire just outside my city has destroyed thousands of acres of land and many homes.

I was watching coverage of the fire on the news and heard one woman who had been evacuated from her home say that God had spared her home from being destroyed. Maybe this is the wrong way for me to look at her statement but I couldn't help thinking "Why would God spare her home and let hundreds of others be destroyed? What makes her so special? Did she just pray harder than everyone else?" I'm inclined to think that God didn't spare her home and he didn't destroy all those other homes. Bad stuff just happens in this world because this is an imperfect world.

I can't pretend to have the answer to the "life isn't fair" issue. It really bothers me actually. The only thing I can say is that this world has bad, evil stuff in it and life is just not that great sometimes. I guess that's why we should focus on eternal things. We should build up for ourselves treasure in heaven.

We are so focused on earthly things that I think we forget that God is not focused on earthly things. He always has in mind what is most important: that which is spiritual, that which is eternal, our sanctification, and our reconciliation so we can be with him someday.

Yes, God wants us to be happy on earth. He wants to give us good gifts and answer our prayers and fulfill our desires. But we forget that our happiness on earth is never, ever God's ultimate goal. If God had to choose betweeen something bad happening to us on earth in order for us to be brought closer to him and us always getting what we want at the cost of forgetting about him, he would chose the first one every time. I find this strangely comforting. It's not that God doesn't care when bad stuff happens. He just has much higher and more important goals in mind.

We need to align our goals and our purpose with God's. Things on this earth will matter much less when we look at the big picture. Our lives are short. They are like a mist. What can we do on this earth that will matter for eternity? When we compare something like getting a promotion to saving a lost soul, what do you think matters more to God? How can you make what matters to God matter to you?

It's true, life isn't fair. It's also not fair that Jesus had to die. We will never deserve what Jesus did for us. But fair or not, God wants to be with us. He will do whatever he can to accomplish that goal. In the end it will all be worth it.