I’m used to hearing cries of, “It’s not fair!” from my children. Something as seemingly insignificant as my inability to cut three identical slices of pie is sure to elicit such a chorus.

But it’s not just our own concerns that make us question whether life is fair. As I sit in church on Sunday mornings and look around at fellow members, or open Christmas cards and see the faces of friends from far and wide, I think about the stories behind the smiles. I know the pain that so many carry: fractured relationships, children with scary diagnoses, financial uncertainty, wrongs suffered. And my heart cries, “It’s not fair!”

Rather than dwelling on all that’s not fair, Emma Scrivener reminds us of Paul’s exhortation to think about what is just (Phil. 4:8). “The Lord is just and all his ways are justice,” she writes. “His whole way of being is a kind of ‘putting the world to rights.’” When we think only in terms of what seems fair for us or our loved ones right now, we miss the bigger picture of God’s redemptive work throughout history. As Scrivener writes, “God’s justice will bring about far more than fairness. . .It will bring about a new heavens and a new earth.”

In this life, we don’t all get an equal slice of pie. But we can trust that the God who determines our portion has given us what is best for our good and his glory. 

With hope,

Winfree Brisley

P. S. You can still order a copy of TGC’s Advent Devotional: The Weary World Rejoices.