As I mindlessly scrolled through Facebook tonight, I stumbled upon a friend's status that stated exactly what I wanted to say in a blog post:
"Learning about life and that it's not always fair-- at all. And that is okay. It has to be okay because we live in a broken world."
So true. Married couples struggle with infertility while others accidentally get pregnant, orphans around the world starve while we live in the land of excess, perfectly healthy people are diagnosed randomly with cancer, people are hit by drunk drivers. None of this is fair.
BUT, who am I to say what's fair? I'm not the painter creating the piece of art. I'm just one tiny spec on the canvas.
Psalm 9:8 says, "And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity." The painter - the master - the creator - it is He who says what is fair and establishes justice as He wishes. My job is to pray that He will show me how to respond to the unrest that enters my mind when I encounter seemingly unjust circumstances. I pray that we will all be aware of the world's broken state and discern our roles in responding to its unfortunate realities.
One thing I can see from my little paint spot, though: it's also not fair that though it is me who messes up every day, Jesus took my punishment. He took lashings for my errors, and I am released free with a clean slate. In fact, God made the situation even more "unfair" by giving me a gift: I get to spend eternity with Him in heaven. THAT unfair scenario is what I need to remind myself when I begin to feel troubled about seemingly unjust situations.
I am not released simply to run my life as I wish, however. I am released to respond. Luke 12:48: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." I want to be in the center of God's will, moving and giving and extending myself to alleviate burdens in injust situations and "feed his sheep" however He calls me to do so.
"Learning about life and that it's not always fair-- at all. And that is okay. It has to be okay because we live in a broken world."
So true. Married couples struggle with infertility while others accidentally get pregnant, orphans around the world starve while we live in the land of excess, perfectly healthy people are diagnosed randomly with cancer, people are hit by drunk drivers. None of this is fair.
BUT, who am I to say what's fair? I'm not the painter creating the piece of art. I'm just one tiny spec on the canvas.
Psalm 9:8 says, "And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity." The painter - the master - the creator - it is He who says what is fair and establishes justice as He wishes. My job is to pray that He will show me how to respond to the unrest that enters my mind when I encounter seemingly unjust circumstances. I pray that we will all be aware of the world's broken state and discern our roles in responding to its unfortunate realities.
One thing I can see from my little paint spot, though: it's also not fair that though it is me who messes up every day, Jesus took my punishment. He took lashings for my errors, and I am released free with a clean slate. In fact, God made the situation even more "unfair" by giving me a gift: I get to spend eternity with Him in heaven. THAT unfair scenario is what I need to remind myself when I begin to feel troubled about seemingly unjust situations.
I am not released simply to run my life as I wish, however. I am released to respond. Luke 12:48: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." I want to be in the center of God's will, moving and giving and extending myself to alleviate burdens in injust situations and "feed his sheep" however He calls me to do so.
this is a great reflection!
ReplyDeleteamen! Thanks for the post :)
ReplyDeleteI'd quote all of Lamentations 3, but it's about 66 verses long, and I'd ruin the style of it. So I'll just refer to it. There is great injustice in this world: against myself and against others.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, because we live in a broken world, sometimes we deserve the offense and sometimes we don't. But Lamentations 3:21-27 is a great and hopeful reminder of our God's compassion. The salvation spoken of in those verses refers to Christ's redemptive act on the cross. I am redeemed. I am also called to live as a righteous person, not unrighteous. Christ's righteousness covers me.
Leigh, thank you for this post.
---Andrew
Leigh - awesome post. God has spoken through you here!
ReplyDeleteSo very thankful that God spoke to each of you through the post. Andrew, thanks for the Lam. 3 reference!
ReplyDelete