Life's Not Fair!

Putting 'Unfair' in Perspective

Have you ever caught yourself complaining, "It's not fair.." about something that actually was pretty trivial? For example, "It's not fair that my kid doesn't get to start on his tiddlywinks team." It's not fair that that couple was waited on before us. We got to the restaurant first."
Sometimes the cry of "unfair" is over a more significant issue. "It's not fair he got the promotion I deserved." It's not fair they lied about me and got away with it." "It's not fair that my loved one has cancer at a young age."

OK, so there's a recurring theme - life's not fair. Here's a handful of perspective though about how unfair life is.

It's not fair that I get to sleep in a comfortable bed every night free from the fear of attack while people in other parts of the world live in fear. It's not fair that my kids get three square meals a day while children are starving elsewhere. It's not fair that we have medical options to help cure virtually every health problem there is when somewhere there's a person living in pain with no recourse for relief. On and on that list could go.

Are we as disturbed by how good we have it compared to the less fortunate as we are over the inequities we think we've suffered? I would suggest to you that reflecting on what the Lord has done for us serves as a wake-up call to sensitize us. No one who has received the "indescribable gift" (2 Corinthians 9:15) of salvation in Jesus Christ can justify the pathetic refrain of "It's not fair...."

Christians are those who are kept from being punished for their sins due to God's Son having accepted the penalty for them. The sinless One suffering on the cross - that was unfair! It takes a lot of nerve for us to expect that but then be so adamantly opposed to any subsequent inconvenience in our lives.

Forget for a moment all the advantages the majority of us have in the western world (to which we feel so entitled) compared to deprived people elsewhere. That's enough right there to rebuke our self-pitying for a lifetime. When you add in the benefits of eternity though, for those who are heaven bound due to having received Christ by fair and thereby being forgiven of their sings, any complaining truly becomes outrageously inappropriate.

Redirect the energy you'd otherwise use to pretest your own grievances toward appreciating all you have, and toward bettering the lot in life of someone else who is genuinely in need. In so doing, your gratitude will grow. Then, Thanksgiving won't be limited to an annual holiday. It'll be a daily reality.

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For you with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke 6:38)

"And be thankful" (Colossians 3:15)