Fair- In accordance with the rules or standards.
When a skater trips another guy in a hockey game, when someone gets caught robbing a bank, when you get in a fight at school. All these things you get punished for or face consequences for, no questions asked, and that is all perfectly fair, right? When we break rules we understand that we are going to have to face the consequences and deep down we know it is fair that when we break a rule we have to deal with the repercussions. God, on the other hand, is not so fair. For years and years God’s people turned away from Him. The only thing in God’s creation that He made for a deep intimate relationship with himself was the one thing that was rebelling against Him. They worshiped other gods, they were a people engulfed by sin. Now, if God were being “fair” he would have rained fire down on the earth and just forget ALL of humanity. They were breaking the rules so that’s what they deserved, right? Well, being the unfair God that He is, he smashed that train of thought and instead sent a savior, a redeemer, a healer of our hearts, and rescuer of our souls. He sent Jesus Christ to DIE for them/us so that, even though we were “dead in our transgressions and sin” He would bring life to our dry bones. I urge you to read (Ephesians 2:1-5).
So I referred mostly to times long ago, but the same exact thing applies no just as much as it did when it initially happened (the redemption of man). We have to realize, in the bottom of our hearts, that GOD OWES US NOTHING!! He is not an unfair God because you didn’t get that job promotion, or that your spouse cheated on you, or even if a loved one dies. That is all stuff that is of this world and was brought in through the fall of man aka SIN. Things might seem unfair, but we have to realize that in those times, God is positioning Himself to bring full restoration and glory out of those things. It is not capable in our finite minds to comprehend the majesty that lost loved ones are going to, or what opportunity will arise from not getting that promotion. GOD OWES US NOTHING. Yet, God is so good and so unfair. He is unfair because of His grace, He is unfair because of His mercy.
There is not a day that goes by that we don’t commit some type of sin. Some people think that it’s unfair that God has all these “rules” or guidelines that we’re supposed to follow. Wake up people, He does that because if we strive to meet those things, then our world would be more abounding in love. Love for each other and love for Him. It is unfair of God to have us constantly turn from Him, mock Him, refuse Him, and yet still offer us grace, mercy, and a way to everlasting life in heaven with our creator, our truly loving Father. Grace can be so incomprehensible. If we put ourselves in God’s shoes, would we forgive like he does, would we love like he does, would we show mercy like he does to the most wicked of people? The answer is no, no we wouldn’t. God is the perfection of all those things and we struggle to forgive someone who told one lie to us. God breaks all the rules of fairness to capture your heart. I’m not saying that you can use His grace as an excuse to do whatever you want, that’s a whole separate topic itself, but we can never run too far from God. We can never go where He is not. This scandalous love He has for us is always there, it’s present everywhere we go. We just choose not to realize most of the time. People all around the world who are still constantly breaking the “rules and standards” will one day be “raised in glory” (1 Corinthians 15: 43a). So, all of this to say; if you feel like you’ve run too far, if you feel like you’ve had your back turned on God your whole life, if you feel broken, lost, or just too beaten up by the world. If you feel like you’ve broken to many rules and fallen short of the standards placed on man, bow down. God is ready to be unfair FOR you. He’s prepared to break the societal idea of fair and embrace you. Not a cleaned up, polished version of yourself, but the beat up sinner that you and I all are and say “I love you, my child”. Don’t think God is unfair TO you, let God be unfair FOR you.
