10 This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins. 11 But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; 12 he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” 13 In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”
14 Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! 15 For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”
16 So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.
Is God Fair?
It is a profound question. When God uses someone in a way that we wish we were used, it’s easy to think that God is being unfair. When we see someone being blessed while we struggle, it’s easy to question God. In fact, it’s human nature to do so. People have been doing it since the beginning of time.
And yet, is it the right question to ask? I don’t believe it is. You see, we base fairness on our own understanding of what it means to be fair. We use our cultural understanding of right and wrong to decide if life is fair or not. And as soon as we ask the question is God fair? we are placing God into that box of limited understanding.
Perhaps the question we should be asking is can God be trusted? In other words, regardless of how I see things playing out in my life or in the life of another, can I trust God. Is he trustworthy? I believe he is.
You’ve likely heard this illustration before, but we see life the same way we see the road ahead of us when we’re on our bikes. We open the throttle when the road is straight. When we can’t see beyond the curve, we lean in, feel the rush of excitement of not knowing what’s ahead, and ride the curve. The fact is, we don’t know what might be waiting for us ahead. But God does. He sees the journey from the vantage point of an Eagle flying above the road. He sees what awaits beyond the next curve. He knows what is coming up in our lives. At times, he calls to us to slow down, because the road is rough beyond the next curve. At times, he invites us to open it up even more, because the road is beautiful, and he loves seeing us enjoy the thrill of the ride.
If we learn to trust him, the ride can be far more exciting than anything we could imagine. When we ask is God fair? we are focusing on the moment rather than the journey. We are basing the question of what we are experiencing at that time. And in doing so, we are really questioning if we can trust God with tomorrow.
My prayer: Lord, I want to experience the fullness of the journey that you have called me to live. Sometimes I can be guilty of looking at someone else’s journey and comparing myself to them. Forgive me for doing that. You have called me to something very unique. I choose to trust you with my journey. So, lead me, I pray. Amen.
Until tomorrow.
