Recently, I was coloring a page in my book of Scripture verses, and, as often happens, as I focused on coloring, the Scripture verse began to wiggle into my brain. It was a verse that I hadn’t really spent time pondering before, and I began to think about how many people struggle with the truth of what this says.
Romans 3:25 (NCV) God always does what is right and fair.
As I colored, I thought about the people who question why so much of life seems so unfair and so “not right.” Good question. To reconcile this, I found only one answer: The things in life that are not right and unfair do not come from God. I think I sometimes forget that God is not the only supernatural entity who is vested in my life. Satan would love nothing better than to make me doubt God. He wants to make my life difficult and then convince me that it’s God’s fault. But I know that none of what is wrong in my life is God’s fault. He is always there to point me back to what is right.
That may seem simplistic to some, but it really is that simple. God has given Satan permission to roam the earth, testing humans by causing difficulties that would make them doubt that God is Good. I believe God allows this because he wants to know if we will still trust Him when life is hard. It’s easy to praise God and bask in His Love when everything is going well for us. But if life were always good and fair, we would eventually come to believe we deserve a good life. God would just become our “good fairy,” rewarding us simply for being us. And that is exactly where Satan wants us to be, because then, when he throws chaos into our lives, we will blame God for “being unfair”.
God does not delight in our suffering, but allows it so that we can experience His Faithful Presence as we go through it. Sometimes he allows it because it will benefit someone else. What? Yes, sometimes God allows difficult things in our lives because it will point someone else to Him. I know this because it recently happened to me in a very graphic way that could not be explained in any other way.
I fell down a flight of stairs. Not the kind of fall where you sit on your backside, bumping down each step. No. I fell headfirst, tumbling head over heels from the top of the stairs to the landing at the bottom. I remember hitting my head on each step and crying out in pain. I remember lying at the bottom of the last step feeling like a million needles were prickling in my arms and legs. I remember telling my husband not to try to help me up, but to call 911 — immediately. I remember the paramedics coming to stabilize me and gently move me to a device that would help them get me back up the stairs and out to the ambulance. Much of what happened after that is a blur, but here is what is important about this story. Weeks later, while I was recovering, I realized something. God allowed me to fall down those stairs so someone would see His Power. There was a person who needed to know that God is Great, God is Good, and God is a God of the impossible.
I should have been paralyzed or even dead from that fall. I had a broken neck. I can’t even explain all that really means, except that it wasn’t a fun experience. But here’s the thing that is strange about my falling down those stairs: I had no bruises anywhere, and none of my limbs were broken. Yes, I did have a broken neck, but it just so happened that the perfect doctor, who excelled in fixing broken necks, was on call in that hospital on that weekend. A talented and brilliant doctor who knew exactly what to do to fix my neck, but had no idea that there was a God who loved Him and was willing to go to extreme measures to get his attention. I was up and walking the day after surgery. I was released to go home after only three days. My doctor was amazed. He had allowed my husband to pray for him before the surgery, although he didn’t really believe in prayer and had never had anyone pray for him before a surgery. He didn’t think it was needed because he was really good at what he did. But my recovery over the next few weeks brought a realization to his mind that he had never recognized before. His words to us were, “I’m a good surgeon, but I’m not that good. I believe there must be a God. Could you baptize me?”
That was a realization for me as well. God loves me. He knows me well enough to know that I will remain faithful in my trust in Him, even when bad things happen. He was willing to allow something bad in my life because He knew He could use it for good in someone else’s life. Do you know how that makes me feel? Honored. Loved. Trusted. Blessed. To think that God let me share in His Plan to take what Satan intended for bad and use it instead for good made me feel like I had just been entrusted with a great treasure.
So do I believe Romans 3:25? Do I believe that God always does what is right and fair? Yes, with all my heart. What I don’t believe is that there will never be things in my life that aren’t good or fair. Life on this earth will always be difficult. But that’s why it’s important to keep our minds stayed on the one who is always right and fair, knowing that He will always be with us in both the good times and the bad times. He is about shaping citizens of faith who will eternally inhabit the Kingdom He is building.
Thanks for sharing Sue. 🙏