Is God Fair?

ROMANS 9:14-29

How often have you said, that is not fair, the deck was stacked and the job was already decided before they interviewed anyone?  It is not fair they have more than I do, or they were blessed with both looks and talent and look at me I have so little of both.  In my case it was size, my earthsuit was small, 4’9” and 68 lbs. in the seventh grade, I had a burr haircut with big ears, and Billy Lucas tagged me with the nickname Flaps.  The desire of my heart was to play football, but they told me the rule was you had to weigh 75 lbs. I could not even try out for the team.  It was just not fair, I was little but believed I was very good at football.  I bet at some point you also have said it is not fair, for many reasons, it may be your best friend has a great marriage and yours is not bad, it’s broken.  Maybe you have seen so much evil in the world that you can no longer believe in God’s goodness, you are angry and it is beginning to harm your relationships.

So let’s deal with the root problem, and verse 13 has a great question: “What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part?”  It seems some people feel like God does not care in fact I was in an adult Sunday school class where a man had resolved that God did not care about him.  Maybe each of us would do well to read the first part of Psalms 103:2-5, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.”

The Holy Spirit is quick to answer the question asked by Paul, listen to verses 15-24, “By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?”

I feel very sad for you if you do not understand the above verses, my friend T.W. Hunt taught me the following about God’s character; “To have a healthy, vital, growing relationship with God, we must have a realistic picture of who He is.”  Are you willing to ask the Father for help, if you have been deceived by the enemy of your soul, pray these thoughts in your prayer: I praise You, Lord, for being self-sufficient.  You alone need nothing outside of Yourself.  Father, your sufficiency is a storehouse for all who love You, help me draw upon Your limitless resources.

From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice