It isn’t just that some are blessed when we think they should be chastened, or that some who live godly lives undergo many trials. That is puzzling enough, but when Christians think about all the things we have done that contradict God and the new life He has given us, we actually don’t want God to be fair. If He was, then we would get what we deserve. Instead, He punished His sinless Son for our sinful lives. That is grossly unfair, yet without that unfairness, we would perish.
He isn’t fair when it comes to answering prayer either. One person serves God all his life and some prayers go unanswered. Another serves God very little, yet God answers his prayers, even in spectacular ways. It doesn’t seem fair. Even though the Bible says God listens and that our lives and prayers need to conform to His will, this is not a guarantee. No one can pull God’s strings by good behavior or ‘proper’ praying from a ‘proper’ life.
The psalmist knew this. He knew that a clean life was important, yet at times, God simply surprised him.
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me! (Psalm 66:18–20)He had expectations about this prerequisite for answered prayer; God does not listen when His people have their minds on sin. (And most of us know that we cherish sin in our hearts far more than we care to admit.) Yet, God answered his prayers anyway. This is ‘unfair’ — and it is also grace.
Grace is getting what we do not deserve because God chooses to grant us a blessing. This is not fair either, but then, who deserves a blessing? All sin and fall short of His glory (Romans 3:23) meaning that no one deserves anything from God. Indeed, if it were not for grace, even the most religious or determinedly pious people would perish.
Grace has been defined several ways. It is God’s unconditional care and kindness. It is God’s riches at Christ’s expense. It is a revelation of truth from God that changes our lives. However we define it, none of us deserve it.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)This gift of grace is about salvation first and foremost, but as the psalmist says, it is also about prayer. When I pray, I tend to ask for a lot of things. I ask God to meet needs in my life and in the lives of others. However, this week, He has alerted me to a better way to pray. The writer of Hebrews says,
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)Instead of praying for the need, I’m now praying for mercy and grace. God could meet the need too, but the promise here is that when I am needy and needing help, or interceding for others in need of help, I can be confident that He will bless when I ask for mercy and grace. That way, if the need is not met nor the problem removed, I am blessed anyway. Mercy means not getting what I deserve and grace means getting what I don’t deserve. Sounds like a good offer to me!
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Lord, when I ask You to meet my needs, I’m often actually telling You what to do about my problems. How presumptuous! Instead of bringing You my list of needs for You to ‘fix’ — I want to rely on your mercy and grace for all these things. Yet even in wanting to do that, I need mercy and grace to be able to do it.
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