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“Why doesn’t the Almighty bring the wicked to judgment? Why must the godly wait for him in vain?”  Job 24:1

One of the most difficult theological truths to digest is that our world is not fair. If you believe there is a great Designer and Creator of the Universe, then you know what I am really saying is that God is not fair. Have you wrestled with that question?

How do we wrestle and adjust to this truth without being angry with God all the time?

As with most serious theological struggles, you have to begin with your baseline. As Henry Blackaby calls it, “the plumbline.”

Think about it-what do you really believe about who God is?

Do you believe He is the Creator of the Universe?

Do you believe He designed and has a plan for every single person?

Do you believe that He is all knowing and can be trusted?

We have to be honest about each of these answers as we walk through this life and the joy and the pain that it brings. Just because we say a robust YES to all of the above does not mean we are on the cruise ship of life. I would argue the opposite. Paul believed all 3 and his life was full of pain and struggles. Job believed all 3 and his life was shattered and his body was intensely affected.

Our beliefs about God do not determine our earthly circumstances. What we believe about God is displayed as earthly circumstances unfold. We see that in the life of Job. He is begging God for answers while his heart is bleeding. He clings to the belief that God has a plan, and He can be trusted while questioning Him.

Trusting God and accepting the ‘unfairnesses of life is not a 1-2-3 formula. It is clinging to Him when you can’t breathe. It is choosing to trust Him when your heart is shattered. It is questioning Him but accepting when the answers do not come. It is being honest with Him when you don’t like Him. It is lying in bed and knowing He still loves you when every fiber in your being feels like He does not.

C.S. Lewis says it this way, “What do people mean when they say, ‘I am not afraid of God because I know He is good’? Have they never even been to a dentist?”

We can trust the heart of God and earnestly trust Him as the author of our faith, but fear and trepidation can coexist with that as we walk through fires. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego were willing to go to the fire, but that does not mean they wanted to.

Remember when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and He begged God to provide salvation to us any other way than through his beatings, torture, and death. He was in the most extreme spiritual and emotional war of His life. Jesus knew what was coming when He left Heaven and began His life here on Earth as a helpless baby. For 33 years, He knew what was coming and why, and yet, we still see the heart wrenching agony to move forward from the garden to the cross.

Jesus is not condemned for His questions, His emotional reaction, or His desire to handle this any other way. Nor will we be.

Trust that God is big enough to handle our questions, our emotional reactions, and our desires for life to go any other way. Trust Him, talk with Him, but don’t walk away from Him.

“Father, help us cling to You no matter where our emotions and pain take us. Help us hold tight to the hem of your robe when that is all we have to hold on to.”

For His Glory

Terrie Tollerson (TerrieTollerson.com)
TRBC Women’s Life