God's Not Fair - Part 2

Introduction

In Part 1 of this series we looked at our concept of "fairness" which is framed by our sense of justice. We saw that God doesn't deal with us according to justice but according to His grace and mercy.
In this blog we will look at how our sense of "fairness" can be determined by time, including our very limited concepts of eternity.

Our concept of "fairness" often does not take time into account.
If you have ever had children, you know that they think that many things are not fair. It's not fair that they have to go to school, do homework, eat vegetables etc etc. But as parents we know how important these things are going to be to kids when they get older. We know that time will make these things beautiful in their lives.

The same is true with our heavenly Father. When we trust our lives to Him we must believe that He knows better than we do what will work out for our best.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says "He has made everything beautiful in it's time". 
Think about it for a minute. Have you ever gone through a painful experience which, in time, God turned into something of great beauty and strength? God has a plan for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11). A plan to bless us and not harm us. A plan to give us a future and a hope. Isn't this what we would plan for our own children? Even though at times they may think that we are "not fair".

God promises to make everything work out for our good.
Romans 8:28 says " And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."  (NLT). Even when people make mistakes and seem to mess up God's plan for us, God promises that, in time, He will make everything work out for our good.


What about Eternity?
I recently went the funeral of a little five year old girl who was born with cerebral palsy. Despite everyone's best efforts she went home to be with Jesus. The family were all believers and spoke at the funeral about the fact that, at the time, they could not understand how God could have allowed their beautiful little girl to be born with this disability. Not only that, God did not heal her when they knew that He had the power to do so. It would be easy to conclude that "God's not fair".


However they went on to talk about how this little girl had enriched their lives so much. How her brothers and sisters and grandparents just adored her. In just five short years she touched the hearts of so many people. They also talked about the fact that they knew that she was now in heaven and no longer had any pain, sickness or disability. They knew that the next time they saw her that she would be whole.


As believers, there may be things that happen in life that we just do not have any answers for. The untimely death of a loved one, sickness or disability that does not get healed, financial difficulty through no fault of our own etc. We may ask God why and seem to get no real answer in this life. However God sees things from an eternal perspective.  Read Luke 16:19-26. I wonder if Lazarus ever thought "God's not fair". I am sure that he did. However when he got to paradise everything changed. The Psalmist also struggled with these thoughts and declared the same in Psalm 73. Jesus in fact spoke about how difficulties like persecution can really add to our eternal reward and that we should be happy about this! (See Matthew 5:11&12)

Conclusion
Just as children need to mature in their understanding about what's fair, as believers we need to move beyond thinking that God's not fair and start trusting Him in every circumstance. God has a plan for us that stretches on into eternity. Some things become beautiful in earthly time and others only in heaven. One thing is for sure, God is on the throne and He will ultimately work everything out for your benefit and eternal joy.

Study Guide
* Read Ecclesiastes 3:11.
   What things in your life has God made beautiful "in it's time"?
   What are the things in your life right now that you are trusting Him to make beautiful?
* Read Romans 8:28.
   Share one thing that God has made work out for your good.
   How does recalling this help you to trust God to make ALL things work for your good?
*Read Luke 16:19-26
  What does this story say to you about the following areas -
  Eternity
  The plight of the poor
  Our response to the poor
* Read Psalm 73
   Have you ever felt like this Psalmist?
   What was it that made the Psalmist change his mind (see verse 17)
   How should an understanding of eternity affect our everyday lives?
* Read Matthew 5:11&12
   How is it possible to actually be happy about persecution?

God's Not Fair!

Introduction                                                                                                                                                   Have you ever thought to yourself “God’s not fair!”. I would bet that you have but you were not game to say it. Instead we spiritualize our feelings by saying things like “Life is not fair but God is good”. This sounds ok, but if you think about it, aren’t our lives in God’s hands anyway?

In this series we will look at the whole concept of fairness and how it applies to God and the way that He deals with us.

“Fairness” comes from “Justice”.                                                                                                            Our whole concept of fairness comes from a basis of justice and reward for performance. Fortunately for us, God does not give us what we deserve.

Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector – Luke 18:9-14

The Pharisee sounds like a Pastor’s dream! He does all the right things so surely God would hear his prayers, right? That’s what he thought too. But Jesus said that the repentant sinner was the one who went home justified. Is that fair? Not by the system of justice it isn’t!

The good news of the Gospel is that God does not deal with us on the basis of law, good works and justice. If He did, we would all be headed for a lost eternity.

Read Romans 3:21-28

Living in God’s Grace

The sad fact is that many Christians, having received salvation through the grace of God then fall back into law and justice by trying to please God by their actions. This is what happened to the Galatians and this is why Paul wrote to them so strongly in Galatians 3:1-5

Why then should we try to live right?                                                                                           Let’s go back to our friend the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14. We have already established that he was not justified before God because of his deeds, and neither are we! But he was blessed by choosing to live in a “right” way.

1.     He didn’t cheat – this enabled him to live within the law and sleep at night

2.     He didn’t sin – this was untrue and brought about his ultimate downfall

3.     He didn’t commit adultery – adultery is a major cause of divorce and misery.

4.     He fasts twice a week – this keeps his weight under control

5.     He gives a tenth of his income – God’s promises to bless those who tithe still apply. Even many big corporations give 10% of profits to the poor.

So when we choose to live God’s way, we choose to live the best life possible. We are not justified before God by our actions, but we choose life when we choose to live according to His Word.

Conclusion                                                                                                                                          God is not fair as we think of fair because He deals with us not according to our works but according to His mercy and grace. Thank you Jesus!

Study Guide

·        Read Luke 18:8-14.                                                                                                                    How do you feel about The Pharisee? Do you think that Christians can sometimes be like this? How can we guard against self-righteousness?

·        Read Romans 3:21-28                                                                                                                          How are we made righteous before God?                                                                                   Is there anything that we can boast or feel good about?                                                 How should this truth make us feel when we approach God?                                     How should it make us feel about others and the way that they live?

Read Galatians 3:1-14                                                                                                          
Why do you think Paul is speaking so strongly to the Galatians?                                 What trap did they fall into that we also need to guard against?