by Dennis and Barbara Rainey
May 18
"That's Not Fair!" (Part One) Deuteronomy 10:17
For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality.
I may never buy another Hershey's chocolate candy bar for my kids to split. I'm not referring to the one with squares, but the one with almonds. There is absolutely no way to break it into equal shares.My children's cries of injustice erupt as soon as they receive their portions: "That's not fair!" My standard and dispassionate response to them has become, "That's right, life isn't fair!"
But Barbara and I also devised a solution: We let one child divide the candy bar and the others get to pick their portions.
I wish fairness in all of life could be solved that easily. Most things, however, do not divide in equal portions. Life just isn't fair.
Sometimes our "portions" in life seem downright bitter. It just doesn't seem fair that:
A divorced mother of three preschoolers should have to work two part-time jobs and raise her children alone while her irresponsible ex-husband parties and neglects the child support.A 34-year-old missionary and father of two little girls should die suddenly of a heart attack while on vacation with his family.A child has an operation on his appendix and gets AIDS through a disease-infected blood transfusion.Left to my human reasoning, these painfully unjust circumstances don't seem to resemble even remotely our standard of "fairness." They make me angry. They cause me to question, to wonder and to shake my head.
Fortunately, most of us face unfairness on less tragic levels. But our own experiences are very real, and we, too, are left to wonder about "the fairness of it all."
It's life-in a fallen world-that isn't fair.
Prayer:
With your mate that you will develop the ability to trust God in all of life's trials and circumstances.
Discuss: What does not seem "fair" in your life right now?