Many people look at the world around them and think God is unfair. The disparities they see certainly contribute to that attitude. Think about the people who make millions each day, while others work back-breaking jobs only to earn pennies in 24 hours. Or those whose privilege allows them to escape with a slap on the wrist for a crime that earns another person severe punishment. Such things can cause certain people to conclude that whoever created the world is unjust.
However, many fail to realize that God gave humans the freedom to choose whether or not they would obey His instructions. Those instructions also came with information on the consequences of applying or ignoring them. What we see in the world today is the cumulative effect of the choices people have made over time. Many of those choices have produced dire consequences that, unfortunately, impact certain people more than others.
Fortunately, God has a track record of mercy. In 2 Kings 22, King Josiah discovered that his people were ignorant of many of God's requirements when a long-lost Torah scroll was found. It revealed how far they had strayed from God's rules, and Josiah set out to rectify things. For instance, he reinstituted the Passover celebration, which had not been observed since the days of Moses (2 Kings 22:21-23). And when the Lord saw how seriously the king grieved for his nation's errors, He had compassion upon them.
That heart of compassion is why He sent His Son, Jesus, to the earth to close the separation that sin created between individuals and God, their Maker. Jesus therefore served as an eternal sacrifice to cleanse all who would believe in Him and choose to obey His God-given teachings. All so that the stain of sin would no longer subject people to satan, who wants everybody to end up in hell for eternity. This blessing was for those who were unaware of God's laws as well as those who knew but had backslidden or chosen to disobey.
That compassion remains the reason why, despite our failures and iniquities, we experience mercy today. That opportunity you didn't qualify for, but you got anyway. It wasn't because you were so charming. It was because God, who loves you, made a way. Do you remember that day, when everything went wrong and yet someone offered you a kind word that made you smile? It was because God wanted to use that person to express His love to you. Are those the actions of a God who is unfair?
Yes, much of the world doesn't make sense. There is great injustice and cruelty that defies logic. Yet somehow, God will give His children reasons to be joyful. He does this because He knows how tough things can be. Plus, He encourages us to pour out our hearts to Him in prayer (Psalm 55:22). He promises that all who call on Him will be saved (Joel 2:32). He longs to show mercy, but because we are unfamiliar with His word, we miss out on the blessings and grace that are our inheritance as His children.
God wants us to experience His best, but this requires a choice that isn't solitary. It is a decision to be His child, obey Him, accept discipline when we sin, listen to His Holy Spirit, and allow Him to make us more Christ-like each day. As we submit to His desires in godly humility, we'll increasingly discover just how good God has been and how He's patiently waited for us. We'll understand that just because the world we humans produced from our wrong choices is unfair does not mean God is not kind. And we'll soon realize that more people need to taste and see that the Lord is good and not unfair.
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ALTAR CALL
If you are yet to give your life to Christ, don't let this moment go by without doing so. And if you've backslidden and are living as you like instead of how God wants you to, now is the time to recommit.
It is time to repent and return to the Lord. It is time to commit yourself to living by His word and submit to having Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Look, the video below will do a better job explaining things than I can, and it's only 8 minutes long. Yup, there are no cliff notes, please just watch.
If you watched the video to the end and said the prayer at the end, then welcome to being a child of God! You are now a born-again Christian! I pray you receive the Holy Spirit and are led in the ways of the Lord. Send me a message letting me know you said the prayer. I'll send you more materials so you can grow as a new creature, washed clean and restored.
Regardless, please make prayer a regular part of your life. It is simply you talking to the Lord. Also, please start reading the Bible and ask God to make it come alive for you. It holds all the answers you need. You can start by reading the Epistle of John, the Book of Acts, and the Book of Romans. Get water baptized as quickly as you can and ask God to lead you to a church of His choosing.
Congrats and God bless you!