A pastor reflects on life's injustices—and how to face them with a Bible-based faith.
An Unjust World (It's Not an Illusion)
In Genesis 4, Abel experienced injustice when he was murdered. How could this happen? He, according to Hebrews 11, was the one who pleased God. He had faith; Cain didn't. In fact, how is it that so many models of faith in Hebrews 11 were the victims of murder? Surely the saints of Hebrews 11 carried within themselves a keen sense of life's unfairness. "Some faced jeers and flogging … others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned. They were sawed in two. They were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, mistreated. … They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground" (Hebrews 11:36–39). Abel did the right thing. God loved Abel. God accepted Abel. God showed favor to Abel. But that favor was expressed only in accepting Abel's gift. It was not expressed in protection. In fact, God provides far more protection to Cain than he ever did to Abel. He marked Cain to keep at bay the avengers. Aren't things supposed to go well for those who please the Lord?
An Unsafe God (Is What We Want)
It's about acceptance. It's about God accepting us as his own. It's not about being spared from untimely or difficult death. It's about being spared the "second death"—the death of unbridgeable separation, the death that is oblivion and torment and unending aloneness. Because of Jesus Christ, we have received God's unmerited favor. God doesn't make the injustices of life vanish. He redeems them—their unfairness, their brokenness, their disease and death—and he gives us back sevenfold all the years the locusts have eaten. Ultimately, we are citizens of heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there. But meanwhile, we walk by faith and not by sight. Meanwhile those who walk by faith discover that life rarely gets easier. It often gets harder. Safe? Who said God was safe? Fair? Who said God was fair? The Bible doesn't. Reflect1. How can our church more faithfully teach that God's acceptance does not necessarily grant a life free from evil? 2. What are some times in our church that leaders have needed to step into difficult, unfair situations and offer hope? 3. How will acknowledging the unfairness of life strengthen our church?    Navigating Change Take Your Career from Drag to JoyMoving beyond mundane. Practice 5: Be Unusually Interested in Someone People crave attention. Give it away, and they’ll find it hard to resist.  Identifying PrioritiesThe pressure to succeed by secular standards rather than by biblical guidelines is subtle and often insidious.
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