"You were a judge, but you knew no justice. You fought the law, but you couldn't fight God!"
Delta Spirit, "Crippler King"
"I never learn to count my blessings, I choose instead to dwell in my disasters..."
Ray LaMontagne, "Empty"
As follow-up to P4E.008, I'm compelled to discuss God's sovereignty in relation to our highly valued "fairness." There is a disconnect with us Believers when it comes to "fairness" and God's sovereignty. As Christians, we believe it to be our right, indeed our duty to uphold "fairness." But, Scripture is full circumstances that we might consider to be unfair. Consider Eve. She did not receive the command from God, yet she is blamed for the fall of man. Consider Cain. Nowhere does Scripture reveal to us why his sacrifice was not acceptable to God. Only that it wasn't. Abraham's first son was Ishmael. The blessing of God would normally be given to that first-born son. But, Scripture records that God blessed his second son, Isaac! How about Jacob? He stole his brother Esau's birthright, but later became Israel, the first of God's own people. Speaking of Jacob, what about that father-in-law of his? He treated Jacob pretty unfairly, didn't he? Joseph's story was not exactly the model of "fair." Then, there's the story of Job. Job's story may be the epitome of unfair. David was a terrible father, adulterer, murderer but also a man after God's own heart. There are many other Biblical events that, from the human perspective, might be considered unfair. The most notorious being what happened to Jesus Christ.
Would you, could you, find fault with God for allowing, even orchestrating, these seemingly unfair Biblical events? I strain against my worldly value of fairness, but eventually I acknowledge that I would not, could not, find fault with God's purposes. As Scripture says, it would be like the pot complaining to the potter about how it was made. Jesus said that God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous. In fact, throughout much of the"Sermon on the Mount" Jesus refutes our ideas about fairness and justice. God told Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
Why do I dredge these ideas up? Because I've found that the source of much of my own bitterness, resentment and anger is that I want to blame God for the negative physical circumstances that invade my life. I've struggled mightily with the idea that I should "rejoice" when I encountered "various trials." I could not wrap my fleshly mind around "All things work together for good..." The overriding question that my flesh would raise would be "WHY?" And then, I simply let go of my sense of justice and fairness and with it went bitterness and resentment and anger....
Peace and Wisdom and Understanding be Yours, Kim
thank you kim.... great insight.
ReplyDeleteoops.... sorry it's me t.j.
ReplyDeleteI agree that our anger is sometimes linked with a sense of injustice (maybe that's always what sparks anger?).
ReplyDeleteAnd, just a thought on Eve... I always notice that the text says "and the man was there with her." Hmmm... what do we make of that? My father once said he thought maybe Adam was letting her do a taste-test. You know, if she keeled, he'd refrain. If not, dig in. Something to muse about...
LL,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. I think there are many things that spark anger. Injustice is just one!
With regard to Adam and Eve, I've come to believe that:
1. Adam was right there with Eve and saw and heard the whole exchange between Eve and the serpent.
2. Adam did not fully know what it meant when God said "you shall surely die," because he had never seen death in the Garden.
3. When Eve ate and Adam saw no visible change in her (she didn't "die") he ate as well.
4. This did not excuse Adam's lack of leadership. He could have and should have intervened when God's word was brought into question. He was the one to whom God gave the command and he should have assured Eve's understanding and adherence to it.
5. Notice that when God came looking, He asked Adam what he had done (not Eve).
6. Notice that Adam immediately set an example for men to follow throughout the ages: he blameshifted on Eve and God.
How's that for musing? Thanks again for linking my blog!
Kim