Life.Is.Not.Fair.

Sometimes, many times, we feel we are getting the short end of the stick. We wonder why do these things always happen to me? It’s so easy to feel every bit the victim.

But reality is…life is not fair to a single one of us. Not one.

I read the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. I know without a doubt, that I would have been upset had I been one of the laborers who worked a full day. See…I’m selfish like that. I choose to see things my way. I want things to be fair and square…..well, as long as they benefit me. I would have thought pay me more, or pay them less.

Matthew 20:1-16
Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’

So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.

And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’

They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’

And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.

Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius.

And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house,

saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’

But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.

I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?

So the last will be first, and the first last.”

God never told us life on earth would be fair. If God treated us fairly, well, none of us would be here today because of our sin. But He is just.

Even when Jesus called out to His Father to take the cup from Him, His Father did not. Jesus knew the pain He was about to suffer at the hands of man. The very ones He was about to die for. How was that fair? Yet, Jesus said not my will, but Yours.

Jesus was spotless. Pure. Faultless. Without sin. Yet He bore the sin of every single one us. I heard it said once that Jesus absorbed our sin. I think that paints a clearer picture of what He did for us.

I can barely carry the weight of my own sin, yet Jesus absorbed all of mine, yours, and of every single human being. And He willingly did so knowing that sin separates us from the Father. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

But Jesus trusted God. Jesus knew His Father’s will and that God’s plan wasn’t completely finished at the cross. Jesus was to rise from the grave because death could not keep Him. Jesus knew He needed to fulfill all prophecy in order to save us.

We need to do the same as Jesus…through all the unfairness…trust God.

When life is unfair, we can learn and grow. And we can do so without becoming a victim of our circumstance. Jesus never allowed Himself to become the victim even after all the sin He bore on our behalf.

God is faithful and just and His justice is perfection.

Try not to focus on the unfairness. Focus on learning from every experience, good or bad. Know that God is ever-present and He cares for you. Sometimes we must endure hard things. God is the potter. We are the clay. Remember always what Jesus did for you at the cross…and be grateful. ♥️

Andi