God is Fair When Life is not

Greetings from New Delhi India. When I checked in at O'Hare the agent told me there was no one assigned to the seat beside me. I smiled but was cautious. I had been praying the right person would sit beside me for the flight. It turns out the right person was nobody. That works for me on a fourteen hour flight. If you've flown much at all, the chances are you've had an unpleasant experience sitting next to someone you wished weren't sitting there. I believe God is in control of every detail of our lives, even who sits next to us on a plane. Can I be happy and give him credit for the empty seat and still be bothered when chatty Cathy is sitting beside me when I want to work or sleep? My concern for comfort on a plane pales in comparison to issues people struggle with every day. A loved one is killed by a drunk driver. A planned adoption is cancelled breaking the hearts of the hopeful new parents. The car breaks down and you don't have the money to get it fixed. Some wonder where God is in all of that. When people feel like life isn't fair they sometimes conclude God isn't fair. The best example in the Bible of someone being treated unfairly was Job. After losing his children and getting wiped out financially here's what he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1:21 In spite of what happened to him, Job clung to the fact that God is fair. Here are the reasons he gave.

3 Reasons God is Fair

1. We owe our very existence to God. He brought us into this life and we're totally dependent upon Him. Every aspect of our lives is in His hands. Let's thank Him today for another day of life.
2. The Lord gives us every good thing. We are told every good gift in our lives comes from the Father James 1:17. Yes, sometimes he takes away, but we wouldn't have it if He hadn't given it to us in the first place. God loves us more than we can imagine. We need to learn to see everything as not just within God's control, but within His loving control of our lives.
3. The Lord's reputation, His name, is intact. We live in a sinful world. God allows evil but is not the source or cause of it. Also God responds to our prayers for help. He does so sometimes by changing things for us. Other times He responds by changing our hearts to accept the circumstances.

So when we experience some of the pain of living in a fallen world, remember the many joys you've had before and will again. Give God thanks for those. It's only fair. [Tweet "God is fair when life is not!"] How have you learned to appreciate God's blessing in hard times? Please share a comment or question below.