We’ve all said it. We’ve all felt it. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to bad people? Why doesn’t hard work always seem to pay off? It’s just not fair!
As a father of two boys, I’m very used to hearing how things are often unfair. Interestingly, the phrase is more often used when we don’t get something we want or get something we don’t want than it is when we get something good we didn’t deserve or earn. My son was quick to show me a quarter he found lying on the ground. He was so proud of it. The thought never crossed his mind that someone else, who may have earned that coin, had lost it. I didn’t, but if I had tried to take the quarter away from my son, I’m fairly certain I would have heard that I was being unfair.
I was reminded of a verse this week from the book of Isaiah. Men are compared to sheep that have run off. What’s worse is that we’ve encouraged others to run away as well putting everyone in serious danger. What we have done is deserving of severe punishment. In fact, any punishment for this crime is more than fair; however, instead of punishing us, the one lamb that chose to remain and do everything the shepherd required was selected to take the punishment for the rest of the sheep. This, my friends, is the definition of “not fair.”
While I continue to look at the world through self-focused lenses, I’ll continue to find so many reasons to complain about the lack of fairness. If I choose to rather look at life through the lenses of my Lord and Savior, I can be forever grateful that Christ chose to do the unfair thing and take my punishment. That thought ought to spur us on to live our lives for Him. We owe him everything. Yet we continue to cheat Him by choosing rather to live for ourselves.
May I encourage you to worry less about what is fair and care more about…
Walking in Him!
Walking in Him 