“When Life Is Not Fair …”

What would you do if the enemy breached our shores and conquered us? “That will never happen,” some are quick to say. That is also what the Jews said – before it happened (Jer. 7:4, 15, 28:1-4; etc.)! Babylon, a once small and insignificant nation, had grown until it conquered Assyria and then turned its focus on the country of Judah. After Babylon besieged and defeated Jerusalem, “certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes,” were kidnapped and taken to the capitol, Babylon (Dan. 1:3).

Children who might have been destined for “greatness” in Jerusalem were stolen and given new lives, new jobs, new names, new clothes, new gods, a new language, and a new diet. Young people, what if this happened to you? Parents, what if this happened to our children? Could our children survive? One in this situation either accepted or died, so would they accept? If this were me, could I have the presence of mind of Daniel to strive to serve God and remember who I am in this horrible situation (Dan. 1:8)?

An event like this would surely test our faith! Has God forgotten me? Has He forgotten our people? Has God given up on us? An event like this might produce resentment in some. “Why did God do this? Why me? What have I done to deserve this?” Someone might declare, “If God has given up on me, then I give up on Him!”

What do we do when life is not fair? Do we lash out against God? Do we jettison everything we have known? Do we actually stop and consider what is happening and then try to see how we can continue to serve God despite the hardship? Daniel did this (Dan. 1:8-14). Joseph, Jacob’s son, had similar problems (Gen. 37-39), except the enemy nation was Egypt. Perhaps Daniel had heard about Joseph as a young boy and tried to act like him when he was taken to Babylon.

When life is not fair, how will you act? You may not see a foreign nation conquer our country, or maybe you will. Even if you do not, there are many times in life where we can say that life is unfair. It is not fair that some die in their youth. It is not fair that some are born with birth defects or other issues. It is unfair when someone loses a job despite being a good and model employee. It is not fair that someone commits sin and seems to have everything handed to him while someone striving to be godly and do things the Lord’s way is belittled and treated wickedly. Indeed, we can think of many times when life is unfair.

Will I allow life’s “unfairness” to make me bitter? Will I use this as an excuse to reject God and His teachings? Read Daniel 1-3 and ask whether or not I am acting like Daniel and his friends in the face of hardship. I don’t think any of us have suffered as they did, and yet they understood it was not God but the consequences of sin (Dan. 9:5-6) that was responsible for their current situation. 

When life is not fair, where will you turn? What decision have you made in the past when you endured unfair things? Was that the right decision? Why or why not? When life is unfair, draw near to God (Jas. 4:8) and trust in Him to right the wrongs and get you through the hardship. Joseph did this and became a ruler second only to Pharoah in Egypt (Gen. 41:40-44). Daniel did this and became a ruler among the people who had thought to conquer him (Dan. 5:29, 6:2-3)! When we do this, though life is unfair, we will see God’s blessings on us in spite of what men try to do to us (Ps. 23:5).

- Jarrod M. Jacobs