That’s not fair!

“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair? - Ezekiel 18v25-29

‘That’s not fair!!’

How many, many times have I heard those words? Having and working with children and teens all these years means that ‘That’s not fair!’ is at the top of the list of common sayings I have heard through the years.

‘That’s not fair’ is always based on one’s own perception of justice. If justice doesn’t meet one’s standards then it surely must not be fair.

The people of Judah took it to the point where they said ‘God’s ways are not fair!’ They had sinned despite God’s repeated warnings and God was judging them. They, on the other hand, felt that God should conform to their own selfish standards. They were the ones who were not fair to God, not the other way around.

It is easy for us to sit back and condemn these people for saying ‘God’s ways are not fair.’ We think ‘I would never do such a thing!’

Or would we? What do we do when we dwell on thoughts about our lot in life and question why we get sick, why our loved ones die, why we can’t pay the bills, why someone else has so much more, or why our ministries don’t seem to prosper?

Are we not really holding God to our standards? When I look at these things I am the one who is not being fair. Who am I to hold God to my own selfish human standards?

When I doubt the fairness of God I need to remember which one of us is the Eternal God and which one of us is a man born in sin.

God is more than fair. It would have been fair of Him to destroy me because of my sin. I need to keep that in mind the next time I question His fairness.