Thought I would share my notes from today’s message at Fellowship.
If You Ever Felt God Isn’t Fair, There’s an App For That!
– If God was fair, I wouldn’t have this much pain. God is big & powerful. Why doesn’t he just take all of that pain in the world away?
– Even Mother Teresa questioned the fairness of God at times.
– The poorest of the poor are in Nicaragua and they live in desperate conditions. Is that fair?
Faith Journey: there are highs and valleys in our walk. Those valleys can even be a real crisis of faith.
– The Bible tells us to count it all joy and to keep moving. You can’t have the highs without the lows.
– the lows are not about God’s faithfulness but more about our obedience.
Thoughts:
1 There are things in scripture that don’t portray God as being fair.
– The flood (Noah)
– Joesph
– The Israelite slaves in Egypt
2 God isn’t fair, he is loving (and we benefit from that)- Psalm 103:10-12
3 Who defines fairness anyway? – John 9:1-3
– Sometimes we experience valleys and bad things so that God’s greatness & power can be seen. Sin is not always the issue.
Take Aways:
1 Keep moving – we don’t know what God is up to or what the big picture is. Having faith doesn’t mean we won’t have doubts.
2 Be a tool in God’s hands – allow yourself to be used by him in both the highs and lows of life.
3 Our current happiness is not a standard by which we can judge God’s fairness.
4 Stand with the people who hurt.
Final Point
2 Corinthians 4:8-10, 2 Corinthians 4:16-17
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!