Is God Fair? Part 3
In answering the question, “Is God fair?” (meaning, in today’s thinking, “Does He give everyone the same things?”), we have looked at the first two parts of the answer: “No” and “Yes.”
The third answer to this question is another, “No.” In His dealings with us, in what He gives to His creatures in general and His beloved children in specific, God, humanly speaking, is divinely, magnificently and magnanimously unfair.
God loves diversity and we see this in how He works in our lives. He is able to take the negative effects of the Fall, where all creation was twisted, and use them for good in us. In this scheme of things each gets what he or she needs to come to know Him and then to serve Him.
–Some people He creates with great intelligence, others with simple minds.
–Some are born beautiful, others plain, the rest are somewhere in between.
–Some are born healthy , others with birth defects or serious illnesses.
–Some grow up strong and live long, some die as babies, others die in between.
–Some grow up with many opportunities, some with few, others with none.
–Some have wonderful parents, some are totally neglected and abused, most have average ones.
–Some live in wealth, some in poverty, some in middle class income.
–Some have prominent spiritual gifts, like teaching, or leading, while others have gifts used in the background, like mercy or service.
Humanly speaking God is unfair in this, but divinely speaking, we know that He is wise and has a purpose for each in what He gives and allows; we can trust Him to do and give what is best for each.
He knows what challenges each person requires to see his or her need for a Savior, and then to grow spiritually. He does what is best for each, individually tailoring circumstances and events.
This is very “unfair” from the politically correct perspective, but very loving and wise from God’s perspective of Truth, Wisdom, and his ultimate goal to eliminate evil, to save all who are willing and to bring in a new and perfect heaven and earth.
God has also distributed roles as He sees fit, much to the consternation of many today. This includes roles in the spiritual (gifts), intellectual, physical and relational realms. Here are some very obvious, yet in our society, often rejected examples of the roles He’s given to men and women.
–Men are to procreate. Women are to bear and nurse babies.
–Men are to voluntarily, wholeheartedly love, be understanding, nurture & encourage their wives. Women are to voluntarily respect and follow their husbands.
–Men are to lead their families. Wives are to be helpers to their husbands. Men are to listen to women’s perspectives and take them into account in making decisions.
–Men are to teach and lead mixed groups in the Kingdom. Women are to teach and lead women and children in the Kingdom.
In this “unfair” distribution of roles, God knows and does what is best. We can trust Him in His wisdom, love, grace and sovereignty to give to each person what that one needs to come to Him, to live a useful and meaningful life, to develop in a healthy and effective way.
So is God fair? “No,” “Yes,” and “No.” Does God have the right to be so? Absolutely: He is the Creator of all, the Most High, the Almighty, the Beginner and Ender of time. There is no one who can challenge Him (as Job found in chapters 38-41 of his book), for the Lord God is perfect in every way.
No human could think up such a wonderful God whose character is multifacetedly perfect and beyond comprehension in His Wisdom, Power, Grace and Love. He is totally independent of His creation, he has no need of us; for in His triuneness there is perfect community, love and completeness, which have existed from eternity. This is the God who knows what He’s doing and I choose to trust Him! How about you?