Life is Not Fair
by Olga Hermans
Have you ever felt like that? I sure have. Now I know better, but I remember the times that I felt that way and almost couldn’t see any answers coming towards me. This thought can drop you into a pit in no time. We think that when we really are created equal then why am I going through all of this? You never know what people are going trough; some people are really good at covering up their issues. It doesn’t mean that they don’t have any.
How often do we question the fairness of things? I am certain that it is too often to count. God is eternally just, but there are times I’ve questioned His immediate perspective of fairness. Because He is God all knowing, omnipotent, omnipresent, I mentally know that from an eternal perspective His wisdom, justice, and sense of right and truth are above questions.
When I read my Bible, I am in awe of His perfect wisdom. I never questioned the big picture knowing that God was a good God. My question was more like why do people at an age of 60 still have their parents and I lost them when I was 20. Or why do some couples have to fight the good fight of faith for having a baby while others mistreat their children or even abort them?
These are the questions that are not mentioned in the Bible. It seems that some of us start out with more than others, as if they have a head start before I had even begun. I always felt that God could have been fairer. I remember the times that I tried to judge between fair and unfair, just to find out that I needed to change my perspective over to God’s.
There is a parable in the Bible where Jesus describes His kingdom perspective: Matt.25:14-30. The distribution of the talents was not equal; I am pretty sure that most of us have thought that this wasn’t fair. But Jesus had called his servants together to give them different amounts of money to handle, according to their abilities.
We have to find out that we do not have the same talents and abilities. We cannot all do the same things, but we can all be what God has called us individually to be. I cannot be what you are, and you cannot be what I am, but we can each be all that God wants us to be. We all need to discover the life we were born to live and do that with passion. I believe that passion will drive us to that place where we discover our talents and our gifts.
You can read this parable for yourself and see what happened; the first man went immediately and put to work the talents that were entrusted to him. The man entrusted with two talents put his to work also, and gained two more. But the man given only one talent “went off, dug a hole….and hid his master’s money”. Matth.25:14-18.
Right now we can see a problem in their attitude, because this servant didn’t even try to increase what had been entrusted to him. He was offended when he saw what the others had received. He decided in his heart not to do anything with what was given to him. The only thing he wanted to do was to keep it the same, but he didn’t plan on bringing more value to his talent.
It took some time before the master came back. Often only the course of time will reveal the true nature or character of a person. This servant had plenty of time to change his attitude, but he didn’t. His attitude revealed a deep-seeded heart-condition.
God knows our heart and He knew the heart of this servant; God has a lot of patience. He always waits for the harvest of the heart. You can read how excited the first and second servants were. Jesus called then “good and faithful”. He even blessed them with greater authority; He knew that they trusted Him and therefore He can trust them with more. Those who trust can be trusted.
The last servant with the one talent Matth.25:24-25 comes last and he is not excited about the return of the master at all. He didn’t realize that the master was weighing his heart. He had entrusted him with something good, but in the hands of a bitter, fearful and wicked servant the good talent lays dormant. It’s not how many talents you possess; it’s what you do with those talents.
This is a sad story, because that servant could be you or I; this servant was cast outside of the blessings, privileges and provisions of his master and had to live among the fearful and tormented. Matth. 25:28-30.
God is interested in our hearts; He weighs it by what He places in our hands. He measures us by what we have and not by what we lack. You and I vary in our talents and abilities. God does not compare us one to another. He deals with us as individuals and gives us at least one talent.
God entrusts us with a measure of faith. Rom.12:3. He gives it to us because we cannot please God without faith. Hebr.11:6. We always have to act in faith in whatever we do. Let’s not doubt His goodness, because when we think like this, it causes us to hold back portions of our heart and keep control over our lives.
Our faith is meant to be used. Its purpose is not to accumulate things but to receive and grow in the knowledge of God. It is given to us that we may experience Him as a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
God wants us to seek and grasp His heart. So, to discover the life you were born to live you need not to hide your talent. Don’t be afraid to step out or afraid that you might fail, afraid of criticism, afraid of people’s opinions or afraid of being misunderstood. Take the talent and use it for His glory.
Let me encourage you to use your talents to the greatest possible extent and to do your very best in every area of your life. Then you will hear the Master say, “Well done!”
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It’s all about “NEVER GIVING UP” on that which God has given you, in order that we may do God’s will for His Kingdom… Lead by example and “ALWAYS” proclaim your God given talents are from God (Himself)… never your own.
I “WILL NOT” waste my God given talents and “I WILL” use them all to help build God’s church…
Thank you.
Yes Steven we never should waste our talents; why should we? Building God’s Kingdom is the main thing; so keep doing the main thing and you will be a faithful servant. Bless you!!
Thank you Olga for your post on today 28/5/12. We had our Senior Pastor’s wife preached about having and going after God’s own heart. That we must keep our hearts pure sharing from Mt. 5:8. Every time she mentions God’s Name I have tears rolling down my face yesterday when she was preaching. Her preaching touched everyone’s heart and were all quiet. It shows that when people hear the name of our great and mighty God they tremble at His name..
Thanks again for your encouragement..
Thank you Nasain; I so enjoyed your comment. I t sounds that you love your pastor and your church, which is a good thing.
I feel that way sometimes, but that’s when I depend on God to see me through and to help me.Love your posts Keep em comin.
Hi Carrie, depending on God is always best!!
Thanks for the insights and for sharing your knowledge:)
You’re so right about looking at the big picture. Sometimes it’s easy to get slowed down by a problem that you think nobody else has. But we all have problems – everyone just has their own different ones. 🙂
Yep, we all have our own share to overcome Nisha; that’s how we become strong!! We are made to create our faith muscles!!
Great post! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
Great post, Olga. It’s true that everybody has something that they deal with that’s not fair. whether they admit it or not is another issue. Thanks for your insights!
Yes, life is definitely not fair, but our own challenges in our life make us who we are to become.
Another beautiful article =)
Thanks for sharing these ideas! Good article!
Life only seems unfair when we compare our lives to others…focusing and being grateful for what we have been blessed with removes that! Great article as always!:)
Yes, that’s the key Denny; we NEVER should compare ourselves with others!!
Great article Olga. What came up for me was, giving talents is one thing, but to enable courage to “sell” oneself to increase the potential of the talents … now that’s another. Or is it God’s plan to have each one go out and develop the courage to increase wealth through education, support and learning how to best promote oneself? somehow I could feel the hesitation and trepidation of the fellow to guard what he did have… he was too chicken to make it work!! He probably thought someone would take it away from him! yup, lots of that going on for sure! great job!
Yes, we all fight that problem Patricia, but the key is that we do life with the gifts and talents that are bestowed on us and NOT compare ourselves with others. The key is to be satisfied with what we have and create an awesome life with it! If one gift is enough for us to do that, then it is enough to go over and beyond what we can even imagine of doing..thanks for your comment!!
Life will always be unfair if and only if we looked down ourselves and we can’t stop comparing ourselves to others. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights about this topic, Olga.
Thanks Lorii for commenting; you got the idea!!
I love your articles, Olga! They are so inspirational!
Thanks Kim for commenting!
Olga, thank you so much for the insights and for sharing your knowledge with us.
Thanks Anastasiya!! I hope it serves you well!
Hi Olga…Thank you for another inspirational article! I believe the answer may lie in ‘Faith’…if we have the strength and courage to share the same faith and trust that Abraham had in God therein may lie the answer. To acquire this faith and trust, as you know, we must be open to the power and voice of the Holy Spirit on a daily basis! The Holy Spirit speaks to us everyday, we are blessed when we truly hear and listen…Thanks, Hughie 🙂
Thank you so much Hughie, I love the way you pointed out that we need to be open to the Holy Spirit who ALWAYS gives the right answer to all our questions!!
Great post, Olga! It is very easy to think that life is unfair when we compare ourselves to others…and yet, we never know what is going on “behind the scenes”…what looks like a perfect life to us, usually isn’t…love your insights!
Thank you Sherie for your comment!!
Great article Olga! Life is not fair, but that is the way God created it. We would miss out on some of our blessings if it was fair.
Great insight Mandy; that’s how God created it!!
If only more people would understand that God knows who we are… he judges us by what we have like you said. I love that. We would all be just glowing all the time if we truly knew what we meant to Him!
I like that Michelle: we would all be glowing if we knew what we meant to Him! Thanks for your comment!!
“Don’t be afraid to step out or afraid that you might fail, afraid of criticism, afraid of people’s opinions or afraid of being misunderstood. Take the talent and use it for His glory.” Thank you so much, just what needed to hear today. x0x
1 Cor 3: 5-9 …We are simply God’s servants, by whom you were led to believe. Each one of us does the work which the Lord gave him to do. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow. The one who plants and the one who waters really do not matter. It is God who matters, because he makes the plant grow. There is no difference between the one who plants and the one who waters; God will reward each one according to the work each has done. For we are partners working together for God, and you are the soil
God has prepared.
Beautiful post. “Those who trust can be trusted”. Thanks for this Olga.
Thank you for the encouragement! So blessed by you!
Great point, Olga. Life isn’t fair, after all we are human beings that are imperfect. However, we all have been given free will. That free will is put into action through the choices we make. We can choose to make lemonade out of lemons or to pucker up and complain about how sour the juice is.
Very powerful post Olga! Excellent article and such a wonderful reminder that we should not be so focused on what we don’t have, but instead should be thankful for the many Blessings that He has bestowed upon us and use those gifts for His good.
If I align my will with God’s will I will live a blessed life and it doesn’t matter what anyone has or doesn’t have. We all have purpose, it’s just finding out what that purpose is.
Thank you so much for the wonderful reminder! Growing into my purpose now and this was just what I needed tonight!
This story was a nice reminder. I had forgotten about it. It is so true and I have said it often, it is what we do with our gifts that determine our life.
This is a great article like all your articles. I struggle with depression and these help me think and get my mind in a sweeter place! Thank you Olga!
Great post Olga, full of such inspiration. Yes some people are really good at covering it all up, and you never know what is happening with somebody else. So important to always keep that in mind. Thanks for sharing.
I am so glad you were inspired Gretchen!!