Life is not fair. God is always fair.
Shelly (name changed) is a woman who has had a very hard life. The things she has told me in our counseling sessions are enough to make me depressed. I’ve told her time and again, “I wish there was a ‘reset’ button I could push for you. Life has been so hard for you; I wish you could get another chance to live it out on different terms. But I am not God. This is the life He wanted for you and we must trust Him with the outcome.”
In a recent session she said to me, “I want to punch God.”
Without hesitation, before my filter could stop me, I muttered, “Don’t hurt your hand.”
“What did you say?” she asked.
“Don’t hurt your hand,” I replied. I apologized for letting that come out so quickly without much compassion, but I wanted her to hear the truth behind my somewhat-sarcastic-whimsical statement.
“You can be mad at God. You can try to ‘punch’ him, but you can’t stay mad at God. If you stay there, you will only hurt yourself.”
God gave us the ability to be angry, even with Him. And the truth is, He is big enough to handle our anger. However, anger at God is a dead-end street. If you don’t believe me, just ask Jonah.
If we are going to express our ill will with God, then we must be willing to allow Him to show us His good will. He never makes mistakes, never forgets, never abandons and never procrastinates. His actions and timing are always perfect. True transformation happens when we see things the way that God sees them.
The tragedies of this life will never make sense to us without God’s help to bring clarity of meaning for our character and our connection with Him. The trials of this life are God’s greatest way to form us into the Christ-like child He wants us to be.
Don’t get me wrong. The things that have happed to Shelly are terrible and a Good Father doesn’t give terrible things to His kids. But because of the affects of sin on this world, we sometimes have to suffer consequences of our choices and the choices of others. This doesn’t seem fair. But what is not “fair” is that we should be turned over to our sin and wretchedness without the promise redemption; yet God didn’t give us that deserved ending. He sent His son so that we may know Him; praise God for not being fair.
Trusting God for the results of life’s messes is easier said than done, I get that. But I know that God is in the business of making all things new. I can trust that He will make Shelly complete again, or even better than “Complete”. I can trust He will do the same for you and I as well.
