Have you ever declared, “Life’s not fair!”.  I know I have, and I’ve also told my kids that life’s not fair.  It seems that the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. Bad people get away with doing bad things, and good people seemingly get punished for doing good. What’s the catch? Is this really true?

You and I know that life isn’t always fair.  We also know that the wicked don’t always prosper.   The wicked don’t always get away with their antics.  We should pity the people who get away with lying, being late for work, cheating on an expense report, stealing, murder, etc. When the wicked don’t get caught, they think they are a god and can get away with their actions.  When you never face earthly consequences, you most likely will face eternal consequences.  That is just sad.  It is good for us to experience the effects of our actions.  Pain and suffering remind us who God is and who we are. Pain and suffering help us grow and change, so we won’t have to experience the future consequences.

So why do the righteous suffer?  We know that the righteous don’t always suffer.  But in our house, we even joke that no good deed goes unpunished.  In other words, it can feel hard to do the right thing, and we often experience extra pushback or pressure.  Have you ever offered to help someone with a project, and it ends up costing you more time or energy than you had expected.  Maybe you volunteered to pick up some extra hours at work and then were blamed for hurting the budget or even doing excellent work and making others look bad.   However, God uses adversity in our lives to take us Jesus-followers from who we are to who He can use more effectively.  Adversity is our friend if we allow it to draw us into a closer relationship with God. Does it make sense from the worldly perspective? Nope!  But since we gave our lives to Jesus, He wants us to be as much like Him as possible – and sometimes that path includes adversity. So, at work, when it seems like you’re doing the right things, and you suffer – ask God what you can learn from the situation to grow and change.

Life may not be fair, but it sure is rewarding when your strength comes from God. Remind yourself today that the people around you at work are lost and hurting and searching for Truth. THE Truth is the only solution to the hurting world. Jesus paid it all so that we can live life to its fullest. You may suffer on this Earth, but if it brings you closer to the Lord and it causes someone else to notice and find out about Jesus, then it is a double bonus.  Jesus told us to take up our cross and follow Him.  He didn’t say grab your suntan lotion and beach chair. 

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jim

Tony Dale recently listed out 7 steps to Taking steps of faith – have a listen here:

7 Steps to putting our faith where our paycheck comes from