“Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.” (Psalm 116:5)
When God flooded the whole wide world, He was being fair.
When God told Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son Isaac, He was being fair.
When God sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross, He was being fair.
In the Hebrew language, another word for “fair” is righteous – a word used often to describe God. Psalm 11:7 begins, “For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness.”
Truth is, God is fair. God is always fair.
When your life is good, God is fair. When you feel sad, God is fair. When you make your parents happy, God is fair. When you fail a test, God is still fair. He knows about your problems even before you pray. God allows you to face your hard times, as well as your good times – not because God is unfair or unloving – but because He is righteous. Everything God does is right, because it is God Who does it.
Eight years ago, a man named Steve was killed in a car accident. The accident happened on Steve’s first wedding anniversary. Steve had a wife. He had parents. He had a little sister. When he was killed so unexpectedly, Steve left behind many family and friends who were very sad and wondering if God was really being fair!
Why does God allow bad things to happen? Why does it often seem like God Himself causes tragic things to happen? Isn’t God a loving God? Isn’t God an all-powerful God? Couldn’t He make it so only happy things happen? Couldn’t He take away all the bad things? Maybe you have asked that same question about something hard in your life.
The answer is simple, even if it is not simple to understand or simple to get used to. The answer is this: God allows bad things to happen for the same reason He allows good things to happen to us – for His great glory and for our greatest good. We do not deserve good and wonderful lives, but God in His lovingkindness can look ahead and see what is ultimately best for us, and He works those things out, for His own glory and for our own good. He never makes mistakes, because He is God. God wants what is best for our lives – and that is fair.
God cannot be unfair because God cannot be wrong.
My Response:
» Am I having a hard time accepting something that God is doing in my life right now?
» How can I change my heart responses and my words and actions to show that I am trusting a perfect God Who never makes mistakes?