[Richard Kennebeck] Now, there are many common phrases
that we as parents say to our children as we're raising them. You know, many of them seem so ingrained in
our lives that they get used generation, after generation, after generation. When I was a child my parents used those on
me. I use them on my kids, you know, and I hear
my kids use them on my grandkids now from time to time. You know, one of the classics is, you hear
from your children, you know, everybody is doing whatever it is, blank or everybody has
whatever it is, blank, you know, the newest phone, or the newest clothes, or something
like that. You know, there might be some clothes style
that your kids really want and they'll say, "Oh, we really need them." And of course, we parents have the saying,
you know, we'll say something like, "Well, if everybody was jumping in the lake or off
a bridge, or something like that, would you do that?" Or we'll use that other one that we use commonly,
which is, money doesn't grow on trees. You know we all have these things, you know,
and I was raised in a family of six boys, and we were constantly running in and out
of the household and the door was left open a few times should we say. And my mom would every now and then have to
yell after us and say, you know, "Kids, shut the door. Were you raised in a barn or something?" You know, sometimes we'll even say things
to our children at some point that, "Hey, when you go grow up, you'll understand." Or better yet, you know, we've got that ultimate
curse that every parent has. "When you grow up, I hope you have a kid just
like you." That's one of the wonderful things about being
a grandparent. We often get to see that happen, come true. We get to watch that come to pass, what a
wonderful thing to see one of your kids have a kid just like them. You know, our children often come to us, and
we'll even do the same as adults, with grievances. They'll have the grievance of, maybe the older
one gets to do something and the other one, the younger one, can't do that. And they'll come to us and they'll say something
about that, or literally, one of them might get the bigger piece of pie, and they'll say,
"That's not fair. That's not fair." And, you know, as parents, we all have the
response, "Life's not fair." Life's not fair. We might even add something extra that, you
know, "Life's not fair. Get used to it." Or, "Life's not fair. The quicker you learn that the better it'll
be." But, you know, I kind of like one that my
daughter has. She says, you know, "Life's not fair. You got the better deal. You've got a loving mother and father, and
you've got food on the table, and you have a roof over your head. There are many people in this world who don't
have that. You got the better deal." But, you know, in reality, life often isn't
fair. There are things that happen in our life that
truly aren't fair or seem that way. If you love basketball, what happens? You grow up to be five foot two. You love music and like me, I'm tone-deaf. Or you love the outdoors, camping and everything
else, but you've got horrible allergies and just can't go out. You know, life isn't fair, sometimes doesn't
seem to be fair. You know, and how often have you looked at
somebody who's got a physical or a mental challenge and you say, "Why? How is that fair? How could God allow that?" You know, when my youngest brother was born
in 1967, our family rejoiced. Here we've had this new, healthy, young child
come into our life. And to be honest, if six boys all quite a
bit older, that little baby never had any time alone. We were hours holding and playing, and taking
care of that baby. And we loved it. You know, during that same year, I had an
aunt who had a baby, a new baby boy. And they called his name David. He was born into a caring family, caring family
of two sisters and a brother. But, you know, instead of the joy and excitement
that we had in our family that typically you have with a new addition to a family, my aunt,
and uncle and their family had a challenge. There was a defect in David's DNA. You know, most people come with 23 pairs of
chromosomes. Well, little David had a mutation in the cells. He had an extra chromosome number 21. He had Down syndrome. Down syndrome. He would never grow up to be a doctor or a
lawyer, a policeman or a fireman. He would never grow up to be self-sufficient,
to live on his own, to have the same physical potential in this physical life as my youngest
brother, Paul, did. You know, why was my young brother, Paul,
born healthy and my aunt and her family, young David, little David, born with challenges
that would continue throughout all of his life? Was God unfair to allow this to happen? Two families, two babies, two different outcomes. The stresses and struggles that that family
had to live with throughout David's life. The challenges my family never had to go through. Never had to go through that, we never had
to bear that. You know, and the Bible's full of challenges
and what seem to be unfair things. You know, Jacob works for seven years for
Rachel, and then woke up with Leah. He had to work another seven years for Rachel. David, this young shepherd boy, this ruddy,
young shepherd boy was made king even though all of his brothers look so much more handsome
and strong, and powerful. And we know Uriah the Hittite, who was faithful
to David, but yet was put in the very worst part of a battle so he would die because of
an adulterous affair that his king had. You know, I bet Jacob felt life was unfair. I bet David's brothers did the same. And, you know, faithful Uriah, his life was
cut short. Do you expect life to be fair? Do we expect life to be fair? And how do we handle that unfairness in life? Well, I'd like to take a look at some of these
questions in this message today, because life does seem to be unfair. Turn with me to Ecclesiastes 9. First scripture. Ecclesiastes 9:11, we'll start in that verse. Because, you know, Solomon wrote this passage
as he pondered the world around him, and the unfairness that he saw. Now, I'm actually going to read out of the
Easy to Read Version, the ERV version of the Bible, and this verse over top of it has a
heading, “Life is Not Fair.” Ecclesiastes 9:11, "I also saw other things
in this life that were not fair. The fastest runner does not always win the
race; the strongest soldier does not always win the battle; wise people don't always get
the food; smart people don't always get the wealth; educated people don't always get the
praise they deserve. When the time comes, bad things can happen
to anyone!” Here's Solomon, this man filled with the wisdom
that God had given him, and he concludes that life isn't always fair. A fast runner in a race ends up getting hit
by somebody or pulls a muscle and loses. The strongest army finds itself in a situation
that's beyond their control and loses. You know, we may work hard to get a career,
to get education, to accomplish a lot in our lives, and we go out to the job market. And we've got the skills and the talents,
and what happens? Maybe somebody else gets the job because they
put a little extra fluff in their resume, gave a little bit of untruth. You're the better-qualified person, but they
end up getting the job. You are truthful, they weren't. Seems unfair, doesn't it? And Solomon tells that, you know, unfairness
is the way of this world. That life just really isn't always fair. Let's take a deeper look at this in Psalm
73. Psalm 73, because Asaph, who wrote several
of the Psalms in the Bible, including this one. He writes about the unfairness in life and
how he struggles with this question. And he really speaks from the heart and lets
us in to see his thoughts, and his feelings, and his emotions about this whole thing of
unfairness in life. Beginning in verse 1 of Psalm 73 says, "Truly
God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had nearly slipped." Verse 3, "For I was envious of the boastful,
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." Asaph begins with this foundational statement. This foundational understanding of God, that
God is good to Israel, especially to those that are pure in heart. He kind of lays that as the foundation. But then he says that his belief in this kind
of gets eroded a little bit. He almost stumbles in his belief that God
is good because he sees what's happening to people around him. He begins to kind of envy the wicked because
they seem like they prosper. But yet those that are doing righteous aren't
prospering. And why could this be? In verse 4, he says, “For there…” and
he talks about this, “there are no pangs in their death, but their strength is firm." You know, this verse has two possibilities
depending on how you kind of split up one of the Hebrew words in it. It can be as the New King James version says,
basically, that they have a peaceful death without worry. But there's another way it can be translated,
alternative way, and that's the way the NIV translates it. NIV says “they have no struggles. Their bodies are healthy and strong. They have no struggles and their bodies are
healthy and strong.” They live in this wicked life. You know, we hear that, as long as you've
got your health, you've got everything. In verse 5, as he's going through these different
things that the wicked seem to prosper in. Verse 5, "They are not in trouble as other
men,” in other words, they can do wrong, but yet somehow they don't get caught for
doing wrong, “nor are they plagued like other men.” Verse 6, "Therefore pride serves as their
necklace; violence covers them like a garment." So they're arrogant, and they can be violent. And they get away with it. Verse 7, "Their eyes bulge with abundance;”
they've got all the food they want. Not only that “They have more than their
heart could wish.” It's almost like they even have more than
they need. Verse 8, "They scoff and speak wickedly concerning
oppression; they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens,
and their tongue walks through the earth." Asaph talks, again, about their arrogance. They oppress people, they even go as far as
to openly speak against heaven, against others on earth. Verse 10, "Therefore his people will return
here, and waters of a full cup are drained by them." The NIV translates that verse as saying, "Therefore
their people turn to them, and drink up waters in abundance." It seems to indicate that they have all these
friends that are around them and flock to them and appear like they're friends with
them. Sounds like a good life so far, doesn't it? Verse 11, "And they say, ‘How does God know? And is their knowledge in the Most High?’" That verse another translation says it this
way, "They say, ‘How would God know? Does the Most High know anything?’" Basically, what they're saying is, "Does God
really know what's happening down here? And if He does, does He really care? Does God really care what happens on this
earth and whether the wicked are doing wickedly? Does He really care about how they're living?” Verse 12, "Behold, these are the ungodly,
who are always at ease; they increase in riches." And then in verse 13, it seems like he comes
to a conclusion here. Verse 13 says, "Surely I have cleansed my
heart in vain." He says, "Have I done this all to waste? Has it been worthwhile at all to live a righteous
life?” “Surely I've cleansed my heart and vain,
and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued and chastened
every morning." So Asaph begins to almost feel sorry for himself
and for that sacrifice and the work that he's done. He's tried to live a righteous life, but yet
it seems like it isn't leading him to any good. The wicked seem to prosper. He's even chastened every morning, it seems
like even his days begin that way. And he's kind of crying out, "God, it's not
fair. Why do the wicked prosper, but yet the righteous
don't? They suffer." Remember, at the beginning of this Psalm in
verse 1, Asaph actually starts this out by saying, "I almost stumbled. I almost stumbled," as he was going through
and trying to understand God's handling of the righteous and the unrighteous. He had almost stumbled as he writes this list
of reasons why. And then he returns to his senses in verse
15. Verse 15, it says, "If I had said, ‘I will
speak thus,’ behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children." So Asaph here tells God and us that, you know,
if I had really spoken this way and had stopped right there, I would have done an injustice,
I would have been a traitor to your people. You know, the New Living Translation actually
says that it says, "If I had really spoken this way, I would have been a traitor to your
people." So if he had stopped at the point where he
showed and indicated that God was unrighteous, he would have been a traitor, he would have
been wrong in stopping there. You know, it's even so difficult for him as
he meditates on this that he even says it's painful to him. That's what verse 16 says. "When I thought how to understand this, it
was too painful for me." So you see the struggle going on in his life
as he's trying to understand this. You know, let's go ahead and leave Asaph here. We'll return later on. Leave him here with his struggle. Let's look at some lessons about life being
fair that we can find in the Bible. There's some lessons that we can learn and
how we should treat those sort of situations in our lives. About life seeming not to be fair. First of all, God doesn't always reveal to
us why events happen to us. God doesn't always reveal to us why events
happen to us. Turn with me to Deuteronomy 29. This is a foundational scripture in the understanding
of life being fair. Deuteronomy 29, we'll read verse 29. In the New King James Version, it says, "The
secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong
to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." You know, there are things that God reveals
to us and there are things He doesn't reveal to us. The New Living Translation of this verse reads
as such, it says, "The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and
our children are accountable forever, for all that He has revealed to us. So that we may obey all the terms of these
instructions." So God doesn't tell us, it clearly shows here
that we don't know the reason why for everything that happens in our life, or that happens
in the lives of others around us. Some of these things we will only know the
reason when Christ returns. We'll only know it at that time. You know, and verse 29 concludes, really,
that no matter what happens in our lifetime, that really the end result is, we must remain
faithful, trusting God and obey Him. Be obedient to His law. Even when we don't understand why things are
happening to us, we need to have faith that all things work together for good for those
who love God, and to those who are called according to His purpose. We need to have a firm faith in that. Secondly, don't be surprised when unfairness
happens to you. Don't be surprised when unfairness happens
to you. You know, not only does God tell us that,
or not tell us the reasons why things happen to us. He does tell us that we need to realize that
we will have trials and unfairness as part of our life. Let's look in 1 Peter 4, for a scripture on
this. Because trials will come as part of our lives. 1 Peter 4:12. Peter tells us here that we must be prepared
for these trials, and we can't expect to escape from all the trials in our lives. They're going to come upon us, you know, some
of them will just come out of the blue. Some of them we may know are going to happen,
but we can't be surprised when we have trials happen to us. 1 Peter 4:12 says, "Beloved, do not think
it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing
happened to you." We need to be prepared for trials and unfairness
in life because they will happen to you. You know, what happens to you when something
unexpected happens. You know, you're really intent on something,
reading a book or something like that. Somebody comes up behind you and kind of touches
you or whatever, you jump. Or you're standing in line, talking to somebody
and somebody comes beside you and bumps against you, you get off balance. Well, if we think that trials can never happen
to us, unfairness will never happen to us, we can approach them unbalanced, not ready
for them. We'll be surprised and knocked off balance,
and we shouldn't be. So we need to understand that they are going
to happen to us and be prepared for those. Have a plan for how to handle the unfairness
in life. A third lesson from God's Word is that Christians
aren't exempt from the unfairness in life. Christians aren't exempt from unfairness in
life. You know, Asaph talked about this in Psalm
73, which we read earlier, where he asked that question, is righteousness in vain? As Christians, we should be righteous. We've never been exempt from the difficulties
in life just because we're Christians. God doesn't promise that. God's people have suffered many of the events
alongside our neighbors. Floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, financial
hardships, sicknesses. They've all come our way, just like it's happened
to everybody else. But in addition to that, true Christians have
been persecuted for keeping God's way and following Jesus Christ. And we know that the all powerful God could
stop these, could put them in check, keep them from happening from us, to take away
all the unfairness in life. He's got that capability, but He doesn't choose
to do that for a reason. You know, sometimes He intervenes and rescues
us in our own lives, we see that happen from time to time. Other times, in His wisdom, He allows us to
go through trials. But as part of that, it's to help us grow
as Christians and mature as Christians. Let's turn to Hebrews 11. Because this point is made very clear here. Hebrews 11, the faith chapter. Let's refresh our memory on what happened
to some of these saints, how God took away some of their trials and made them victorious
and other ones He allowed to go through trials and did not appear to rescue them. Hebrews 11:32, "And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon
and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and of the prophets: who
through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the
edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became vigilant in battle, turned
to flight the armies of aliens. And women received their dead raised to life
again." You know, in difficult times, God intervened
in these people's lives, performed great miracles and changed the course of their lives, changed
the course of nations. He pulled them out of their trial and brought
them to victory, you know, but God didn't always intervene. Verse 35, "Others were tortured, not accepting
deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. So others had trial of mockings and scourgings,
yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were
tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins,
being destitute, afflicted, tormented." God saved David and Samuel and others from
their specific trials. But God, in His great wisdom and glory, at
times, chose a different outcome to glorify Him. Much more difficult, but in no way was less
a blessing and a glorification to Him. He allowed those saints to endure the unfair
treatment of this world for His glory. You know, did God love these people less than
David? Did God love these people less than Samson
or Samuel? Did He care about them less? These saints who ended up suffering and God
didn't deliver. You know, there's the next scripture that
I find so encouraging because they were so precious to God. Verse 38, "Of whom the world was not worthy." God chose some through great miracles, great
victory. Others, whom the world wasn't worthy, He also
chose for victory. But a different type and a different time. A fourth lesson we can learn from God's Word
about the unfairness of life is that we need to face unfairness in a mature manner. We need to face unfairness in a mature manner. As Christians, we need to face unfairness
differently than the rest of the world does. We need to realize that God has a plan and
how we face unfairness in life is part of our growth in that plan. That plan for this world is a time of training
for a future Kingdom and our part in that. 1 Peter 4:13. You know, the unfairness in life is one of
those obstacles that we must overcome as we prepare to be a son and daughter in the Kingdom
of God. Peter here tells us and gives us some directions
on how we should face these trials as we go through them. We read verse 12 earlier. Let's continue with verse 13. 1 Peter 4:13. He's talking about trials and he says, "But
rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is
revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ,
blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He's blasphemed,” the way
they look at it. It's blaspheme. “But on your part, He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer,
a thief, an evildoer, as a busybody in other people's matters." In other words, we shouldn't cause trials
to come upon ourselves. Verse 16, "Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian,
let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this manner." Let's drop down to verse 19, "Therefore let
those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good,
as to a faithful Creator." As followers of Jesus, we will go through
unfair activities in this world. We'll do that because we keep God's way because
we're faithful to Him. And we should hold our head high at those
times and not be ashamed. Because in going through those we glorify
God. We should rejoice in them and have a positive
attitude. In all our trials, let's glorify God, and
through them, let's commit our lives to Him because He is faithful to us. You know, Christ was an example of somebody
who suffered unjust and unfair treatment. Matthew 5:43-48. He went through unjust and unfair treatment. And then yet He explains to us how we should
react to those unfair circumstances. Matthew 5:43, "You have heard that it was
said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless
those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully
use you and persecute you,” verse 45, "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;
for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and
on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward
have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" Verse 47, "And if you greet your brethren
only, what do you do more than the others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?" Verse 48, "Therefore you shall be perfect,
just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Here Jesus explains how we're supposed to
respond to people who unjustly and unfairly mistreat us. We're supposed to respond to them in love,
and kindness, and good works. You know, that chapter, verse 48, ends with
verse 48, where it says, we need to “be perfect like our Father in heaven is perfect.” That word perfect here can be translated mature. We're supposed to become mature Christians. We need to maturely face the unfair trials
that we go through, we're supposed to be that light to the world, we're supposed to reflect
the character of Jesus Christ and of God. You know, He was willing to lay down His own
life for those that were killing Him, that were crucifying Him. Laid down His life so He could give access
to His salvation to them. He's our example of how to handle unfairness
in life. 1 Peter 2:21, you don't need to turn there,
but it says, "For to this you are called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an
example that you should follow His steps." You know, one additional thought on this point
though, events will arise and may arise that you can and should respectfully defend yourselves
and your rights. If you remember apostle Paul in Acts 22. The Centurion in Jerusalem was going to beat
him and he called upon his Roman citizenship so that he would not have that unjust treatment. So there are times when we can use and defend
ourselves from wrong treatment. A fifth lesson we can learn from God's Word
is that Satan is the author of unfairness. Satan is the author of unfairness. Mr. Clore talked a little bit about this in
some ways, earlier on. But, you know, long ago, God created a plan
to expand His family. He created this physical universe and this
earth for this purpose, of expanding His family, fill it with humans, and have them become
part of His family, His God family. You know, and Satan doesn't like that plan. He hates that plan because he cannot receive
the end result that we humans can. God never gave the opportunity for Satan to
become a child of God, a son, or daughter of God in the God family, and Satan hates
that. You know, one time he was this covering angel
that apparently covered and stood at the very throne of God. But he wanted more, he thought that God's
plan was unfair. God was planning on bringing these billions
of humans into His family, but he didn't allow it, that same opportunity to the angels and
to him. And because Lucifer thought that plan was
unfair, he rebelled against God and he became Satan. And then he spread his dissent as part of
that to the angels and eventually convinced a third of the angels to think that God was
unfair and to rebel against God. And Satan continues that, even today. He continues to spread that attitude of unfairness
to all mankind. He spreads the idea that God is not fair,
and that life is not fair. You know, he wants to sow discord between
us and God, between man and man, and woman and woman, between mankind, and among the
members of the church. He desires to sow discord among all of them
because he wants to thwart God's plan. God's plan of building a family. Satan's attacks began very early on with humans
shortly after they were created on this earth. You know, Satan questioned God's goodness
and God's fairness. He did this when he enticed Eve to eat of
that tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He said, "You know, why is God keeping this
from you? It looks so good. Why would He keep that from you? And why would He keep this knowledge from
you? Oh, God's unfair. God's unfair.” He's the author of unfairness. You know, there's a story that I heard recently
or reminded me of a story I'd heard many years ago. It's about a man who was a minister, Dr. Hay,
a minister in God's Church many years ago, and he was called upon to cast out a demon. And he asked as part of that, he asked the
demon, you know, "Why did you rebel against God?" And the response was, "Because God was unfair. Because God was unfair." And then the demon continued to say, "We,"
Satan and the demons, "have a better plan, have a better way." Satan is the author of the life-is-not-fair
movement. He's the author of the God-is-not-fair movement. He always as Satan is unfair and has been
unfair. A sixth lesson we can learn from God's Word
is that we should be fair and just. We should be fair and just. We shouldn't contribute to the world's unfairness
and injustice in the world. We need to strive for fairness and justice
in all of our dealings. We won't turn to James 2, but in that chapter,
it talks about that we shouldn't be respecter of persons. That just because somebody is rich, we shouldn't
give them certain advantages, or just because somebody has the right connections, we shouldn't
give them certain advantages over someone else. We should treat people equally and fairly. But we will turn to Deuteronomy 25. Because God talks here about how Israel was
supposed to be fair in their dealings with people, that they shouldn't have a different
set of weights and measures for certain people than they did other people. Deuteronomy 25 beginning in verse 13, "You
shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light. You should not have in your house different
measures, a large and a small. You should have a perfect and just weight,
a perfect and just measure, that your days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord
your God is giving you." Verse 16, "For all who do such things, all
who behave unrighteously are an abomination to the Lord your God." God hates unfairness and injustice. He wants us to be fair and just with everyone. So, in summary, six points that are fundamental
lessons that we can learn from God's Word about the fairness, and trials, and unfair
treatment in life. One, realize that God hasn't revealed why
everything happens to us. Two, don't be surprised when unfairness happens
to you, be prepared. Three, remember Christians aren't exempt from
the unfairness of life. Four, as Christians, we need to handle unfairness
in a mature manner. Five, remember that Satan is the author of
unfairness and continues to spread unfairness throughout the world. And six, remember, we should be fair and just
ourselves in all of our dealings. You know, there's one last point that I would
like to bring out concerning life and the unfairness of life, and that is, I'm glad
it isn't fair. I'm glad it isn't fair. We all should be glad that life isn't fair. You know, there's a song by Reliant K that
sums this point up. It says, "In this life sentence that I'm serving,
I admit that I'm every bit deserving. But the beauty of grace is that it makes life
not fair… The beauty of grace is that it makes life
not fair. We know from Romans 6:23 that we have a life
sentence. “For the wages of sin is death.” We've all sinned, we all have a life sentence. What is fair is that we all die and never
live again. That's our sentence. But, you know what? We got a great, and wonderful, merciful, loving,
and fair God. He sent His Son to this earth to die for our
sins, to open us up to a chance at salvation and to be in His Kingdom. If we continue in Romans 6:23, "For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." How unfair is that? God the Father and Jesus Christ desire to
give us something we don't deserve. That truly is unfair in this life, but Jesus
Christ took that on Him. He's the one who took on the unfair thing,
and because of that, we get what we don't deserve. What it all boils down to is that life is
not fair, and I'm thankful it isn't. I'm so glad it isn't. You know, let's go back to Psalm 73 beginning
in verse 17. Let's continue here with Asaph. If you remember where we left him, he was
pondering the unfairness in life. And why was it so unfair, and he'd kind of
come to a conclusion that he was in a real struggle. He knew that God was fair, but it didn't seem
like it was. Psalm 73, beginning in verse 17, it says,
"Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I understood their end.” Talking about the wicked. "Surely You set them in slippery places; you
cast them down to destruction." Verse 19, "Oh, how they are brought to desolation,
as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors." And then in verse 22, "I was so foolish and
ignorant; I was like a beast before You." After going through this heartfelt discussion
within himself of why do the ungodly, unrighteous seem to prosper, and the righteous seem to
have trials. Asaph realizes that he was foolish in thinking
that God was unfair. And he realized that eventually, everyone
will have to pay for what they've done. Everyone will eventually be repaid, of course,
Jesus Christ pays for our sins. Verse 23, "Nevertheless I am continually with
You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward
receive me to glory." So Asaph's final conclusion about the unfairness
of life is that, yes, life is going to be unfair. The unrighteous may seem to prosper, but he
wants to be led by God. And that's the place he wants to be. And he wants to be part of God's eternal family. Reality is that everyone does experience unfairness
in life. That was true of Jesus Christ, that's going
to be true of us, of us all. And that key principle is not what happens
to us, but how do you handle it. How do you handle it on that trip, that journey
to the Kingdom of God? You know, in the beginning of this message
I told you about my cousin David. My cousin was born with Down Syndrome. You know, David grew up. He had many challenges and struggles in his
life and he eventually died of complications in his mid-40s. You know, while my brother went off to high
school, and the prom, and college, got married, had a family. David didn't have any of those. He stayed home with his mom and dad. They took care of him. But, you know, in the midst of all this, there
was a blessing, because later on in life, as David's mother and father's marriage spiraled
into darkness, David became a great source of comfort, and love, and care, and hugs,
and kisses and life to his mom. You know, she could have been bitter about
how David was born, with Down Syndrome and all the challenges she went through in her
life and her family went through in life. She could have been angry with God, but, you
know, she understood God's plan. She knew God's plan. And she put it in His hands. She knew that there would be a day when David
would be raised and would be healed of Down Syndrome, and would get a chance for salvation
in life. She could have been angry, bitter, revengeful,
but she wasn't. She chose to put it all in God's hands. Because she knew that all things work out
for good. So, the next time you feel like you're being
treated unfairly, you just might be. You just might be. It happens to all of us, but focus on how
you handle it. Remember, it's part of our qualifying for
that wonderful Kingdom of God, to be part of the family of God, to be one of his children,
to be clothed in the Spirit, to become a god. So, life's not fair, but that's okay. There's a purpose to it all.
