As the father of a 10- and 6-year-old, I occasionally hear the phrase uttered, "That's not fair!" (Well, it's usually whined more than uttered, and happens less and less frequently given my typical and timeless response: "Yeah, well life's not fair.") But a lyric to a song got me thinking about that more, about the reality in that statement.
As many of you may know, my wife is in jail and I am busy taking care of my children full-time, while managing to juggle owning a business, running a house, and maintaining my sanity. (I'm usually on target with only two of those three at a time.) I recently received a letter from my wife stating that she no longer wanted to pursue our marriage and that she would not be coming back after she gets out of jail. For the past four-plus months that she has been incarcerated, and especially upon receiving her letter, I dealt with the nagging phrase that "it's just not fair" that things would turn out this way. Most of the time, I would just accept it, recognize what God would have me do regardless of my situation, and move forward with that. But in those quiet times of the night, lying alone in a bed my wife and I shared for years, I would sometimes complain to God that it just wasn't fair.
One day, listening to an alternative Christian radio station, I heard a song by Reliant K that changed my tune. "And this life sentence that I'm serving / I admit that I'm every bit deserving / But the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair." And that's what it boils down to: life is NOT fair, and praise God that it isn't! If life were fair, I'd have no hope for being where and who I am today. Were it not for Christ's "unfair" sacrifice, I would have no relationship with my God. I would be a ship, rudderless, sailing in dark, hostile waters for an unknown and pointless destination.
As it is, because of the illogical and unfathomable grace God extended to me, I can extend grace to others, to my kids, to my wife. I can know that God Himself, through Christ, suffered all of the alienation and heartache I suffered, yet He loved me enough to pursue God's ultimate will for me and the entire world. Was it "fair" that the Perfect One suffered immeasurably and died an ignoble death? No, that was not fair. Life is not fair - and praise God that because of that, I am rescued, both now and forever.