We say It's Not Fair when we come across injustice in life. Such words couldn't possibly bring happiness in our life. But there are a few exceptions, where it is a delight, which couldn't be possible except for Our Father's ! Our Lord's ! FAVOR.
After a day's work for nothing when Peter saw a net breaking, boat sinking load of fishes. He realized that God's favor was on him, it was not what he was expecting and he must have had hard time taking it in, mainly because until that day he must have been accustomed to say "It's not fair" with frustration rather than delight. So, "When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Luke 5:8.
But I was on the other side of the river.
Sam, a friend of mine from college, always dazzled in the class, just like all the pastor's children I have ever met. Well! Just like everyone else I had also worked hard to please God, so that I can also shine.
One day during our final exams me and my friend Prabin were working hard on how to tame the question paper.
Prabin stopped his aggressive reading and said, "Do you know, Sam always studies only selected questions from each unit and they always appear in the question paper!"
"Is it true?", I asked annoyed in the middle of my rigorous scanning.
"Yeah", he said with a lot of respect for Sam, "He has lot of faith in God, If you ask him 'How come you are so confident that only the questions you have studied are going to be in the question paper?', he would confidently say 'Only these questions'"
I couldn't say anything, for my mind couldn't reason, 'IT'S NOT FAIR', "How could God give the questions to him just because he is a pastor's son? It is already too late for my Dad to become a pastor and I can't be nearly as good as his dad at this young age.", I thought.
"Only if I could outperform his dad, the questions I study might also appear in the question paper!", I sighed in frustration.
God's favor is something worth envying.
When Joseph was sold as a slave by his own brothers, the bible says he had only God's favour on his side and nothing else. The next time Joseph's family met him, God had raised him way above they could possibly imagine. He went on to become, in pharaoh's kingdom, the authority who sanctions the provisions for his brothers' survival. Anyone can guess the murmur they would have had in their minds, "IT IS NOT FAIR".
Abraham had issues, the Kings were coming after his wife one after another. He has to tell the Pharaohs that this is my wife so you cannot have her, but he knew better. To tell the Pharaoh you cannot have her might be construed, by pharaoh's servants, as an open invitation to kill him. So he says she is my sister! God appears to the king, Abimelech, in his dream and tells him, "You are a dead man", definitely a scary thing to hear from God, just because of the simple fact that, God means everything he says and never exaggerates . In the conversation that follows, Abimelech's cry, "It's is not fair, how could you favour him even though it's him who made the mistake ?", is obvious.
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife." But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she, even she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this." Genesis 20:5.
Never mess with God's favored ones
A recent incident made me realize the mightiness of God's favor and the kindness behind Jesus' prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34
The cab provided by our company, takes two men and a girl to office. As summer neared the girl who sits in the front seat couldn't take the heat, so she offered her seat to me. Even though I was wary of the reason for her new found generosity, which she later revealed to me herself, I accepted her offer mainly because I didn't mind. After six months of travelling in the back seat, I didn't have to sit in the front seat for more than one week to find that the new girl who joined us that week has already started crowding the back seat and is causing unease to those who sit in the back seat.
One thing common in the lives of all the God's favored ones is that whatever bad might be intended to them, God turns it into something surprisingly good. Joseph tells his brothers, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20".
How could I not mention the words of the shepherd boy David, who went on to become the shepherd of God's people by bringing down the giant Goliath, who sang in his psalms, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes" Psalm 118: 22,23. In fact the word DAVID itself literally means, "GOD'S BELOVED", no wonder he won against the giant.
When asked about the power through which they were doing miracles, John and Peter refer, "It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is "'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
God's favour through CHRIST
I don't envy Sam anymore, I feel happy for him.
Just because I realized the favor of God is not something you get through 'Your Pastor Dad', it is through Jesus Christ. It's just that their 'Pastor Dads' had taught them from their childhood how to receive God's favor. And they had personalized it, by enjoying it in their everyday life.
When the wayside beggar asked for money, Peter told him, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." Acts 3:9. Similarly, I had only God's favor when I started, and it's my most valuable asset until today, which I intend to use to help the crippled walk. Amen.
