It’s Not Fair – Trusting God When Life Doesn’t Make Sense

We are often tempted by our circumstances to agree with the cynic who says: “No good deed goes unpunished.” In reflective moments we may find ourselves becoming bitter by the unfairness, inequality, and injustice that show up in every day of our existence. Where is justice? How can we have confidence in God when life seems to favor those who have no regard for Him?
In this study over the next week, we will look at the struggles of a man in the Old Testament who, when looking unfairness in the eye, almost walked away from his faith.
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Hard Questions
The young boy wailed, “It’s not fair!” As mommy and daddy told him he couldn’t have the same toy his friend had. Daddy said, “Sometimes life isn’t fair, buddy.” We tell our kids that life isn’t fair because we know that’s true. But even though we understand it, and despite the fact that we accept life’s little inequities, do we really believe that unfairness is okay? What about the drunk driver who walks away with only minor scratches while the man whose car his car crashed into lives in a coma for a few days before he dies? Or when a mother and father cry outside the courtroom as their child’s murderer is released — an oversight in the investigation led to a legal technicality and the man walked free. Or a man find his widowed mother’s bank account is empty — she has been duped by a “charity” and now has no money left to live on.
Tragedies raise angry questions sometimes: Why do people who do such bad things seem to succeed and even prosper? Where is God? How and where can we find answers? One place to look for answers is in the book of Psalms. They capture the depth of human emotions and captivate us because they put words to anger, fear, and frustration we all experience in life.
One of the Psalm writers was a man named Asaph. He wrote Psalm 73 after life had forced him to ask deep and painful questions. Although the details that led to his crisis are unknown, Asaph did capture his reaction to what he witnessed and what he learned. Feeling betrayed by life and even by God, Asaph expresses a depth of despair and disillusionment that many experience but few admit. “Why is this happening to me? I’ve trusted God. I’ve tried to remain faithful and to make good choices. Yet I’m overwhelmed with trouble while evil people prosper. IT’S NOT FAIR!”

Read Psalm 73

Why Doesn’t God Enforce His Own Rules?
In ancient Israel, people believed and lived by the law of fair returns. They expected justice and balance. Those who did good would be rewarded proportionately, while the unjust and immoral would be punished. This wasn’t simply a clever philosophy or wishful thinking; it was based on the law given by God.

Read Leviticus 25:3-5, 18-20; Deuteronomy 28
The New Testament has a counterpart to this Old Testament principle — the “law of sowing and reaping”: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7-8).
These words offer truth and hope to the disheartened and suffering as in Psalms 34 and 37. Wherever we find it, this principle was part of the framework through which an Israelite viewed life. The belief that good is rewarded and bad is punished exposes the problem that forms the backdrop of Psalm 73: Why do bad people seem to benefit while good people seem to struggle and encounter difficulty?
This psalm is not a theological analysis of a hypothetical problem. Asaph was wrestling with a personal crisis, one that threatened his faith in God. His words revealed the intensity of the emotions stirred by the questions deep in his heart. In his struggle, Asaph can speak for us. Our lives may mirror his. He believed in God’s goodness and the principle of justice, but his experience didn’t match what he thought he knew.
Answers. If he was to continue believing in God, Asaph had to find answers. We’ll begin looking for them tomorrow…