Today’s Daily Bread ~ It’s not fair!

Psalm 103:10-12 – He has not punished us for all our sins, nor does He deal with us as we deserve.  For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.  He has removed our rebellious acts as far away from us as the east is from the west.

Mike and I don’t subscribe to the newspapers, so I like to peruse the internet to see what’s going on.  When I logged on to CNN, I saw this headline:  “Arizona Massacre Suspect: ‘I planned ahead.’”

The first few lines of the story read, “The suspect in the weekend massacre in Arizona scrawled “my assassination” and “I planned ahead” on an envelope found in his home, according to court documents released Sunday.

The details were part of a criminal complaint filed against 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, the Tucson man charged in Saturday’s bloodbath at a supermarket where U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was hosting an open house for constituents. Investigators found a letter from the congresswoman in a safe at the house where Loughner lived with his parents, thanking him for attending a similar 2007 event, a federal agent’s affidavit states.”

Most 22 year olds are framing their diplomas and applying for jobs.  Loughner will appear before a federal magistrate in Phoenix on Monday, facing two first-degree murder counts, two attempted murder counts and one count of attempting to kill a member of Congress.  The magistrate only hears cases involving victims who worked for the federal government, so state prosecutors will almost certainly bring charges in the remaining cases.

All in all, this young man has killed six and wounded fourteen.  Because of 22 year old Jared Lee Loughner, six families have suffered devastating losses.  Fourteen individuals have had their lives terrifyingly and abruptly interrupted, and now face months of recovery and rehab.

God could’ve stopped it.

There is no denying the permissive will of God.  And it raises a question that my pastor (Dr. John Allen of Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church in Flower Mound) asked the congregation yesterday.  Is God fair?

Dr. Allen told a story from his earlier days of preaching, when he was just 30 years old.

A family of four had just recently come to Christ.  They had started attending church regularly.  One day, the man and his older son were driving behind his wife and their younger son.  The man watched as a drunk driver hopped the medium and t-boned his wife’s car.  When he got to the scene his son was already dead.  The father said something to my pastor that’s haunted him for years.  “Either God isn’t fair,” he cried, “or He’s powerless!”

Two things come to my mind immediately.  Some people will look at a situation like that and say, “Everything happens for a reason.  We’ll see why either in this life or the next.”  I would say firmly that God did not purpose that event for some greater good we may never know.  That child was killed because a man chose to drink until he could barely stand, and then drive himself home.  God has given mankind free will.  He will not force us to come to Him, and He will not force us to behave.  He is always beckoning, always calling; but He will let us choose our way, even to our very destruction.

The second thing that occurred to me was this:  Is God fair?  No.  He’s merciful.  God is perfect, holy and just.  1 John 1:5b – God is light and there is no darkness in Him at all.  A perfect God cannot tolerate sin, or He wouldn’t be perfect.  Does anyone make it all the way through life without sin?  No.  Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  And what is the punishment for sin? Death.  Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

As Dr. Allen put it in church, “No, God is not fair.  Thank God.”  We don’t want fair.  We don’t want what we deserve.  We want a Savior that loves us so much that He’d rather die on a cross for us than face eternity without us. 

Do terrible things happen in this world?  Every second of every day.  Does God turn a blind eye?  No.  Psalm 103:13-14 – The LORD is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him.  For He understands how weak we are; He knows we are only dust.

There is more than one word used to convey compassion throughout the Bible.  In this particular text, the Hebrew word is racham (raw-kham’). It means to love, to pity, to have mercy, to feel compassion, to find, to show compassion.  I believe that there is a hidden treasure in this word.  To find.  Isn’t that interesting?  When I see my children struggling or hurting, my heart swells immediately with compassion; it’s an automatic response.  And God responds the same way.  But He also finds compassion. He chooses to look compassionately on us.  A fair God would let our sin consume and destroy us.  A merciful God wraps Himself in flesh, descends to a fallen world, suffers pain and humiliation at the hands of the very people He came to save, allows them to nail Him to a cross, and still beckons them back to Himself.

Is God fair?  No.  Thank God.

Isaiah 43:25 – “I – yes, I alone – am the one who blots out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.”

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You so much for extending mercy where we deserve death.  Thank You so much for ruthlessly pursuing us, no matter how hard we run.  Thank You for endless second chances when we come to You with a repentant heart.  Father, some of us are really hurting right now.  Some of us have suffered one crushing blow after another, and can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Some of us are crying out to You, only to feel that our prayers remain unanswered and unheard.  God, please flood us with Your Presence.  Let us feel Your warmth and Your light all around us.  We know that You are looking at Your creation from an eternal perspective, so help us to trust that You can and will purpose good from evil.  Show us Your glory, God!  Let us feel that everything is in Your hands; we know it, help us believe it.  We trust You, but help us to trust You more!  We love You, and we want to love You more!  Give us more faith.  Help us to seek You and follow where You lead.  Give us wisdom and discernment.  Bless us to be a blessing to others.  We ask these things victoriously, knowing that we are asking in line with Your will; and we ask them in confidence, for we pray these things in the beautiful name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.