Life Isn’t Fair
Eccl 3:16
"And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment—wickedness was there, in the place of justice—wickedness was there."
I find less and less on major TV networks that interests me. The stories seem more gory, the relationships shallow. Immorality abounds. Even the cartoons are filled with vulgarity and selfishness. It’s a far cry from teaching values and responsibilities to young children.
That is not to say there weren’t good guys and bad guys, nor incidents when Larry, Moe, and Curley, or Laurel and Hardy didn’t act with responsibility. Still such silly humor brought out lessons of the wise and the foolish without crudeness and lewdness.
I delighted in the stories that ended with, "And they lived happily ever after." with Roy Rogers, Gene Audrey, cartoons and other stories of my preschool and early elementary days. The guys in the white hats won and those who were crooks were met with justice for all their evil deeds, but it wasn't long before life ran contrary to that simplistic approach - of good triumphing over evil. We see that good does not always prevail like it is supposed to. Evil sometimes does. There is no question that is difficult to answer the obvious question "If God is all powerful and all good, why does He allow evil to succeed?"
Last week we looked at the poetic statement of the sovereignty of God, “there is a time and a purpose for everything under heaven”. All the events in life are like stitch work in a tremendous tapestry. Though we only see the backside of threads and colors that look a tangled mess, God on the other side sees how each stitch fits perfectly into His great and cosmic plan. We saw God has a plan and a purpose that brings Him glory and the procedure is using men to carry out those plans in different ways that man does not always understand. Why do the innocent suffer? Why does evil prevail? Why do evil things seem to be increasing?
This week Solomon reflects on some of the injustices of our existence. Evil does abound. What do we do when we are victims? Life isn’t always fair.
It was to a world that was very unfair and full of evil, Jesus came. The presence of evil gives us increased awareness of the need of a savior. The cries repeated in the Bible are “How long, O Lord, How Long?” When life isn’t fair, we long for the one who will bring real and lasting justice.
What has happened in your life that you thought wasn’t fair? How might you guide someone who experiences injustice?
