O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
Psalm 84:8-12
One of the things every parent, teacher, and coach frequently hear is the complaint, “That’s not fair.” Whether it’s an argument over who got the bigger cookie, or whose project won the science fair, or who is getting the most game minutes, the foundation of the complaint is the feeling that either we are getting less than we deserve or that someone else is getting more than they deserve.
This complaint is not limited to children or teenagers. Even as adults we want things to be fair. Social scientists have done experiments where people repeatedly give up free money if choosing to take it will result in someone else getting an even larger sum. They would rather have nothing than see someone else get more.
Sadly, Christians often take this approach with God, too. We make demands for what is fair in our eyes without stopping to remember that God is perfectly just and that whatever He does is right. Instead of complaining when things go wrong, we must not lose sight of the fact that God knows what He is doing.
Job demonstrated this attitude of trust in the midst of incredible suffering and loss. “But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips” (Job 2:10). God never cheats us out of anything that is truly good for us.
