The world is not fair

“It’s not fair!” The words have been uttered millions of times by people not getting an honest shake. No salary increase, a promotion gone to another, being treated disrespectfully, and feeling overlooked and ignored often top the list of personal grievances. And there are greater wrongs. Civilian and children casualties in war, terminal disease, carnage from natural disasters, faithful employees losing their job without warning, are a few examples that can leave people dazed and wondering “Where’s the justice?”

The world is not a fair place.

Look what happened to Jesus Christ? He loved and loved and loved, and what did the public do to him? He was crucified. Not an enjoyable outcome. But we can learn from his response to the ordeal. Instead of getting mad at his persecutors, he forgave them, let anger go, and went to God, in Love. And he was rewarded for his faithfulness to Love with a permanent refuge in eternal Life from his enemies.

When I farmed with my dad, one summer a neighboring corporate farm sprayed a dangerous pesticide illegally. The honey bees pollinating our crops got into the spray and brought it back to the hives, resulting in massive bee kills. Large piles of dead bees mounted in front of every hive. It was a monumental disaster leading to tens of thousands of dollars in losses, all in the matter of a couple of hours.

We felt so helpless. The kill was not just. The thoughtlessness and carelessness of our neighbors impacted us and our beekeeper terribly, and it wasn’t fair.

The offending party admitted they had sprayed improperly, but made excuses as to why. Dad could have sued, but he chose not to. He knew a lawsuit would turn into years of fighting in courts and drain his time and energy away from running a successful farming operation. He chose to let the incident go, regroup his resources, and concentrate effort on making the best of what we had left.

Looking back, he made the right decision. The farm flourished anyway, despite the bee loss. Our supply came from God, not from the bees, and no carelessness of a neighbor could deprive our farming operation from demonstrating success when we were drawing upon the unlimited resources of God.

What man takes away, God can replace.

The world may be unfair, but God is fair.

Evil may be flaring and boasting strength around the globe tromping over innocent by-standers and way-farers, but it will not have the final say. God has the final say. Our life and substance are spiritual. They cannot be touched by hatred and malice or even disease.

As we identify more with spiritual substance and not fear material loss, we will conquer evil more successfully through spiritual ways and means. Less injustice will occur, and life on earth will more nearly approximate life in heaven.

What do you think?