Life is not necessarily fair
by Charles Bertelsmeier
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There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless (Ecclesiastes 8:14).
In August 1980, a pastor and his family were having a camping holiday at Uluru in Central Australia when a dingo sneaked into their tent and took their nine-week-old baby. Azaria Chamberlain’s body was never found. Her mother was eventually charged with her murder, found guilty and sent to jail. Although Azaria’s mother was acquitted (after several years), the trauma Azaria’s parents went through resulted in the breakdown of their marriage. This definitely resonates with our verse for today.
If you have spare time, read Psalm 73, in which the psalmist expresses similar observations, especially about evil people who seem to get away with continuing to hurt others with impunity. Looking at the global scene now, we see many innocent people suffering due to the evil intent of those in positions of power.
When we read today’s verse in isolation, we may feel there is no point in living a good life when all it results in is suffering for us – or at least missing out on enjoying life. Meanwhile, those who grab life by the horns and live life to the full, ignoring the impact on others, have a wonderful time.
One person who undoubtedly experienced the truths of our verse was a former carpenter who lived some 2,000 years ago. Although Jesus lived an exemplary life, he experienced the consequences of what everyone who ever lived on this earth deserved – the consequences of not living to God’s highest standards. And he accepted that willingly because of his love for us. At the same time, the reward he deserved for completely living to God’s standards has been attributed to us despite our miserable failure to meet those standards.
So, in God’s realm, our natural assessment of what is fair is thrown out the window. From God’s point of view, what we deserve in our natural state is to be thrown out of his presence and receive nothing of the blessings of his presence. This would be a horrible experience – living daily at the mercy of very evil people.
God says he loves us unconditionally. Do we truly believe this? Do we understand that when God allows evil to impact our lives, he will keep his promise to be with us, travel the journey with us, and grow us in our relationship with him on that journey?
Heavenly Father, thank you for your unconditional love for us. Thank you for your promise to be with us in whatever you allow to impact our lives. Through all these experiences, I want to grow in knowing you and your love more intimately. Amen.
Charles is a retired engineer who has worked on communications projects for the air force, army and navy. He lives in a retirement village in the outer north-western suburbs of Sydney with his wife, Diane. Together, they have four children and eight grandchildren, all of whom they love spending time with. Charles keeps busy caring for their pot plants and a community vegetable garden, researching his family history and volunteering at LifeWay Lutheran Church.
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