In answering the question, “Is God fair?”, does He give everyone the same things? We have looked at the first two parts of the answer: “No” and “Yes.” Here we look at the final part.
The third answer to this question is another, “No. ” In His dealings with us, God is divinely, magnificently and magnanimously unfair, humanly speaking, in what He gives to His creatures in general and His beloved children in specific. God loves diversity and we see it 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.
–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 between these two ends of the spectrum.
–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.
–Some have leading roles, others do not.
Humanly speaking God is unfair in this, but divinely speaking, we know that He is wise and we can trust Him to do what is best. 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–very “unfair” from the politically correct perspective, but very loving and wise from God’s perspective of truth and wisdom.
God has distributed roles as He sees fit, much to the consternation of many today. This includes roles in the spiritual (gifts), intellectual and physical 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 generally physically stronger than women and are to protect them.
Men are to teach and lead mixed groups in the Kingdom. Women are to teach and lead women and children in the Kingdom.
Men are voluntarily, wholeheartedly to love, be understanding, nurture & protect their wives. Women are to voluntarily respect and follow their husbands.
Men are to lead their families. Wives are to be a helper to their husbands.
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 and Love. He is completely independent from His creation in His triuneness, where perfect community, love and completeness have existed forever. This the God who knows what He’s doing and I choose to trust Him!
