Life is not fair. I remember a book written years ago by Robert Schuller with the title, “Life is Not Fair, But God is Good.” I never read the book, but I always liked the title.
That life is not fair was brought home recently when I met with a young woman whose husband died in his 40’s. Working hospice and pastoring always reminds that some people live to old age, some die young. Some people are healthy most of their lives, while others battle physical or mental problems.
No matter how much we try to make life fair, it never will be. We can try to level out salaries/incomes. We can try to level the playing field for different groups or peoples. Still, something in life will remain unfair. There is probably not a single person who could say that throughout their life on earth everything has been fair.
When I think of fair and unfair, I am driven to think of the cross of Christ Jesus my LORD. It is the greatest act of unfairness in history. Paul explains it this way, “He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” [1 Corinthians 5:21 HCSB]
He had no sin. I had no righteousness. At the cross. He became my sin. I became His righteousness before God.
But I also find the greatest “fairness” of all at the foot of His cross because no one has any advantage when we come to Him, no one has anything to offer but surrender. We bring nothing to the cross. There is no class there, no wealth, no education. There is only absolute helplessness.
We all enter God’s family the same way, through the sacrifice of our Savior and Lord. Yes, life is not fair, but our amazing God is so, so good.
