Life is not always fair, but God is good

January 14, 2008

My title today comes from an incident that happened more than fifteen years ago in a little church in southwest Saskatchewan. I was attending Bible college at Caronport while my husband supervised the building of a fertilizer plant east of Moose Jaw. We attended church in a small town called Mortlach. One Sunday another student from the college came with us. Brook is about six feet tall.

After the service, an older woman who was a regular attender visited with him. She was very short. Something about their conversation led her to stand on her tiptoes and jab her finger into Brook’s chest. She said, “Life is not always fair, but God is good, and don’t you forget it.”

I don’t know if Brook remembers this, but we often visualize the picture of that little woman exhorting our tall friend. We also remember her words of wisdom, particularly when life seems unfair.

I thought of her words again this morning while reading the story of Joseph. Sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, he gained power in Egypt because he obeyed God. When a famine hit, Joseph controlled the food. When his brothers showed up to buy grain, they didn’t recognize him, but Joseph knew who they were. After bargaining, sending them home, and their return the second time for more grain, he finally revealed his identity to them.

“I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you!” (Genesis 45:4-8).

Later on after Joseph’s entire family came to Egypt and lived in abundance, Joseph said again, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people” (50:20).

Life is not fair, but God is good. Joseph knew it without a doubt. At this point in the story, I almost always start weeping at the joy of it. This morning was no different except that I also mentally placed Joseph alongside our little woman from Mortlach.

My devotional reading is on this topic also. The writer tells how one day God hit him with Psalm 34:8. After reading, “O taste and see that the Lord is good,” each time that goodness was challenged by adverse or perplexing circumstances, this truth came to mind. God rescued his mind from doubt by reminding him that He is good, no matter how unfair life seems.

As I pray each day for unsaved family members, I have learned that my plea is not to persuade God to open their hearts to Him and bring them to saving faith in Christ. He wants to do that great good in their lives far more than I want it. Instead, my prayers are part of a spiritual war against the evil one who holds these family members in bondage. That battle is not against God, but one where I fight alongside Him.

Yet at times I wonder why He isn’t doing anything, at least anything that I can see. It would be easy to assume that He is less than good because He is withholding this answer to a prayer that seems to be in His will. Why don’t things change? Why are they still blind to His truth? He could reveal it. Why doesn’t He?

Circumstances like this have often challenged my mind into wondering about the goodness of God. Even though I know none of us deserve even the least of His mercies, He does invite us to ask and He alone has the power to save souls. Why then does He seem to not fight with me or answer?

Today these three words come back to me, reminding me that regardless of what life is like, God is good. His goodness will win over evil. His goodness cares more than I care, and as I think about the story of Joseph and do the math, I realize that it might take a few years for His goodness to be revealed. Joseph was years as a slave to Potiphar, years in jail after being falsely accused by his master’s wife, and seven plus years as Pharaoh’s head man in Egypt before his brothers came for grain. God intended to use for good his sale as a slave by his brothers, but that good did not happen for at least ten to fifteen years.

Memories of a little woman saying big words are a blessing from God when it seems as if He is not listening or that things will never change. Regardless of what happens, her words, His Word, and the story of Joseph convince me that even though it may take time to see what He is doing, God is still good.