Is God Fair?

Today, musician Danny Oertli came and shared his music and testimony. Danny married his high school sweetheart, Cindy, during college. Within the first year of their marriage, Cindy developed cancer and had to undergo eight months of radiation treatments. She was given a clean bill of health, but three months later the cancer returned. At that time, Danny was also diagnosed with cancer in his shoulder, but after fervent prayers were offered, it was discovered the diagnosis was false. After many more months of exhausting treatments, Cindy was again declared cancer free.

Danny and Cindy settled into their lives, giving birth to a daughter and adopting a son. When their daughter was 5 years old, Danny took Cindy on a celebration trip to Hawaii. On the way home, Cindy mentioned she wasn't feeling well. After stopping by the house to see the kids, Cindy and her mom went to the doctor. That morning at 10 a.m., as she was signing in, Cindy suffered a massive heart attack and died.

"It's not fair."

Those are the words that fly into my mind. Why would God allow this one person to experience so much personal tragedy? Especially someone who is serving Him faithfully. But Danny continued to proclaim the Lord's goodness and mercy. And out of Danny's suffering, God brought forth an even more powerful ministry. A year and a half after his wife's death, Danny met a beautiful, godly woman — a woman who seemed as if she had been selected just for this family. Eleven weeks ago they gave birth to their first child.

Yesterday the head of our broadcasting department lost his wife to cancer. She had been dealing with it for more than a year, and they have four young children. Fair? No. Good? Yes. I don't say that only because of the happy ending to Danny's story. I say it because "We know in all things God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

Fulfilling that purpose doesn't always feel good. In Danny's case it involved being broken again and again. But this morning, as the broadcasting department listened to Danny's testimony, they were touched and met by God in a deep, personal way. The encounter was holy — good.

As I reflected on this idea of God's fairness, I wondered: Can God really be unfair? Is He capable of it? And the resounding answer that came to my mind was, absolutely! God is constantly unfair. If God were "fair," we would all be lost in the darkness of our sin for eternity. Each day we're given to know God — to breathe — is a mercy. An "unfair" gift. I am thankful that God treats us with goodness rather than fairness, aren't you?

“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” — Psalm 103:10