Printer Friendly VersionSeveral years ago I was making a job change to a competing company.
I went on the interview, agreed on a contract, signed it and was hired. Shortly
after that my new company hired two of my former co-workers. I later learned
that they held out for more money. So here I was being hired first and yet
paid less! Sometimes life’s not fair!
This is probably one of life's most frequently asked questions,
why is life not fair? It's a fair question and one in which our Lord deeply
cares.
In the story of the Vineyard Worker in Matthew chapter 20, the
workers who were hired first in the day we paid the same at the end of the
day as those who didn’t work a whole! They didn't appreciate being treated
unfairly; those who worked only a couple of hours were paid the same as those
who worked all day! I wouldn't like it either. I didn’t!
The point seems to be, however, that this is an analogy of how life tends
to be to us; according to the permission of God. Ours is not to complain about
its fairness, but to remain faithful through it all...”And so it is,
that many who are first now will be last then; and those who are last now
will be first then.” (20:16) So we may not all get treated commensurate
with our level of investment, but it doesn’t matter. The only “investment”
that counts is the one that God has made in us! So whatever it is, it is to
be used for his glory and we are to be grateful for it all.
We have a wonderful example of this from Exodus 16 today where
the Israelites were going on about life not being fair! "Oh, that we
were back in Egypt," they moaned. "It would have been better if
the LORD had killed us there! At least there we had plenty to eat. But now
you have brought us into this desert to starve us to death." (16:3)
And the Lord said to Moses.” (16:11-12) “I have heard the people’s
complaints. Now tell them, in the evening you will have meat to eat, and in
the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the
Lord your God.”
This promise to Israel is a promise to us. When life is not
fair; one of life’s most difficult dilemmas, God is there. “In the
morning we will see his glorious presence…he has heard our complaints.”
(16:7)
The question is, is that enough for us?
It didn’t appear to be for the first hired workers in the
story. Maybe our Lord was trying to teach us yet another lesson. Life is not
fair and nor was that ever promised so perhaps we’re not to “live”
there.
Maybe the dilemma of the fairness of life has more to do with
the faithfulness of God! In other words, it doesn’t matter that life
is not fair because God is always faithful!
Life is dealt to us according to the permission of God. Ours
is not to complain about its fairness, but to watch and wait on God’s
faithfulness through it all. Remember the words Paul said to the Philippians
today…”that we are going to be saved, even by God himself.”
(1:29) Thanks be to God!
By the way, my salary was eventually raised to equal the others. Yes, life isn’t fair, remain faithful, God is there!
