Unshackled Moments ~ August 26 ~ Stuff Happens; It's Not Fair

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

 ~ Psalm 127:3-5

There are blessings that do not come to all believers. Not everyone gets the same rewards or the rewards they want. It can hurt, and it can serve as a point of entry for the enemy's arrows. Sometimes a person may get a taste of that which they desire so much only to have it taken away. This happened to the shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4.  She had no children, and God, through the prophet Elisha, gave her the blessing of a son. One day the boy had what appears from the description to be a heat stroke and he died. The woman used those famous words, "It is well" to describe how she was as she searched out the prophet to raise her son back to life.

The Shunammite woman's story is one of blessing and healing and restoration. Stories like that are usually awesome to read and hear about. Usually. But what if you're one of the many who never had the blessing of a child and want one? What if your children died and no prophet came and raised them from the dead? Do you rejoice with the man who had a life saving miraculous healing, or get angry at God and feel bitter because your Dad died of cancer and wasn't healed?

There are many situations like the above examples that can raise doubts and questions and cause so much pain. Why does one believer get the blessing and another not? Why does one person get the healing another doesn't? Even harder at times when the answer may feel like "Well, maybe I don't deserve to be blessed and rewarded," why do so many who are flat out evil seem to have their lives filled with the things you want but can't have?

These are tough questions, and I wish that I had the answer for you. I wish that I had the answer for me. But I don't. For one thing I don't think there is one simple easy answer. I  know part of it will have to do somehow and someway to this world being fallen, and at times the answer may include some consequences of free will. At times not getting the blessing  may actually be a blessing and we don't realize it. Other times the enemy may have won that battle, even though he will not win the war. Sometimes it may be  so that God can use us in a different way or area. It may even be at times a result of our sin that a reward or blessing is withheld. I don't know. There are no easy answers. Stuff happens, and life isn't fair. There are no verses that can make some absences and losses never hurt while we remain in these bodies on this side of eternity. There may be days when it's all we feel.

But I do know this. No matter how it feels or how it seems during those times.... God loves me. And God loves you. If you belong to Him, then you have already received the greatest blessing available to anyone, the grace of the cross that makes a way for relationship with Him. It's a blessing and reward that we can never earn or deserve. And it can never be taken away from you. If none  of us received any other blessing, it would be worth dying for. Today, let us remember that being adopted by the Father at such a great price is because of how much He loves us, and let us not focus on what we did not get or can not have in this life. Instead let us look at all His love has given us. And  for the pain that can't be overlooked or ignored? Let us crawl into the arms of the Great Comforter and let His love soothe our souls.