It’s Not Fair – Grace Series# 1, Divine Detours

It’s Not Fair – Grace Series# 1, Divine Detours
By: Bobby Sullivan

^{Galations 6: 9”} Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time (due season) we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  Sometimes I think it’s not fair because we have planted much. Lets prophesy! IN DUE SEASON! It’s the proper time

It’s one of the first things we ever learned to say in life. Not long after we learn to say, ”Ma-ma” and ”Da-da” we learn to say it. Like a right of passage or a prerequisite to enroll in the local pre-K program, we must learn to say, ”THAT’S NOT FAIR!”

The kid has to eat his broccoli while Dad does not. That’s not fair!
You buy plain Cheerios while all their friends get Captain Crunch. That’s not fair!

And it gets worse when siblings come along. When one child gets to stay up later than the other. That’s not fair!

When you run errands with one child and buy them an ice cream cone while you’re out. That’s not fair!

Unfortunately, it doesn’t get any easier as you get older.
I tried out for the team but the teacher’s pet made the cut…That’s not fair!
I applied for the job but I didn’t have the right last name…That’s not fair!
I did all the work on that project but my co-worker got the raise…That’s not fair!

But officer!  Everybody was driving 78 including one guy that blew by me doing at least 90 and I got the ticket. That’s not fair!

Unfortunately, this attitude, this demand for fairness is often directed at God over FAR more serious matters.

I want a child and can’t have one. That’s not fair!
My spouse died and now I’m alone. That’s not fair!
My child is in rebellion despite my best attempts. That’s not fair!
I have cancer despite trying to live for God. That’s not fair!
My husband lost his job and we are in a bind. That’s not fair!

My body is full of pain after I prayed and prayed. That’s not fair

I believe in healing but still have to wear these hearing aids. That’s not fair!

That person lived for the devil his whole life and whispered a prayer at the end. Seriously? That’s not fair!

Just recently, these elections are not fair!

It reminds me of the story of a mother who was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake… Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. “If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, ‘Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.’” Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, “Ryan, you be Jesus!”

My question is, what is fairness?

The Bible is full of stories of people who experience God’s GRACE in their “It’s Not Fair!” circumstances.

Jabez: name means bucket of mire

1 Chronicles 4:9-10  “Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”  And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.” 

Some initiate their own encounter with God’s Grace. Some credit has to be given to those who initiate their own breakthrough! Even though people say, “you’re a pain” kudos to those who take God at his word and put a demand on the ink! Let us not just read the book but be the book.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.

 WE CAN’T FORGET JOB:  I would ask  “What did I do to deserve this?”

In the story of Job, we would be hard-pressed to find a better example of the divine intervention of grace.  IT was one of the most obvious divine detours. You would think that Job would protest, picket and pout in public. Strangely enough I don’t see where he ever questions the direction of this detour even though it drastically changed his destiny at the time.

Job 1:1-3, “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had 7 sons and 3 daughters, and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen and 500 donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.”

So we see from the first three verses how remarkable Job’s character was. And we see that Job was very blessed with 10 children and so much livestock and servants. This makes what follows all the more confusing. Satan argues to God that Job is the way he is because God has watched over him and protected him. Throw some calamity his way and he’ll forsake you. Satan goes so far as to say that Job would curse God to his face.

So, God allows Satan to bring some hardship Job’s way, (would have been nice to get an email or text that this was coming).  In a series of unfortunate events, one servant after another came and told Job that raiders stole all his livestock and killed all his servants except the ones who escaped to tell him the bad news. Then the worst news came.

Job 1:18-19, “While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

Can you imagine? Everything’s going well and then your whole world collapses. In one day Job lost his livestock, most of his servants and all of his children.

So how does Job respond to this calamity?

Will Satan be proved right? Will Job curse God over this? Will you hear Job crying, “It’s not fair!” Will he rebel?

Job 1:20-22, “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”

The altitude of your gratitude is based on your attitude. How high can you go when you feel so low? When you feel you deserve so much more but seem to be getting so much less.

Wow, what a reaction! We see that Job had a normal response of mourning and grief but he also had an abnormal response of worship. He didn’t curse God as Satan thought he would.

Instead he humbled himself and continued to worship God as he always had. His circumstances didn’t change his devotion.

That’s what we need to do when tragedy strikes our lives; let our devotion to God not waver. We will have pain and emotion but let’s quickly get into a state of worship; realizing that God is still God. If we lose focus on this, we run the risk of Satan getting a foothold. Sometimes when we suffer, we think God’s love has changed. Not true. God is no less loving, powerful or capable when times are bad.

Look at the perspective Job puts his situation in-“I brought nothing into the world and I will take nothing out. Everything I have is subject to the Lord’s control and I see it all as a blessing for the time I’m allowed to treasure it. God did nothing wrong by allowing this to happen.”

What an attitude! It’s hard to see the things, and especially the people, in our lives as being ‘on loan’ from God.

Job had been dealt a serious blow. But guess what? It wasn’t over. You might be thinking, what more could happen to this guy? Well, Satan approaches God a second time.

Job 2:3-5, “Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

Job passed the first test but Satan argues it was because he himself wasn’t afflicted. So, God allows Satan to afflict Job.

Job 2:7-8, “So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.”

I can’t imagine the torment Job is dealing with right now. You’re still reeling from the news that you’ve lost everything and all your children are dead and then on top of that, now you’re afflicted with painful sores from head to toe. The Hebrew word for sores can be translated as boils.

And then we see Job scraping himself with pieces of broken pottery. The Hebrew word here can mean scratch so Job may have done this for relief. However, sitting among the ashes is a sign of mourning so Job’s behavior could also be self-harm. It makes me think of cutters. Cutters inflict physical pain on themselves to distract from their emotional pain. Cutters will also do this because they feel worthless.

Regardless, we see Job at a low point of despair. Just because we are upright and blameless it doesn’t mean we won’t have emotional reactions to our hardships. Ok, so how will Job respond to this disaster? He can’t possibly pass this second test. Surely he will curse God now.

Job 2:9-10, “His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”

Amazing! Even Job’s own wife tries to get him to curse God. Are you still holding onto your devotion to God? What for? People might think the same way toward us. ‘Why are you still devoted to God after what he did to you?’ ‘Why are you still praying? God’s obviously not listening.’

We don’t know what life is going to bring. So, when times are good, enjoy. But when times are bad, don’t let that change your disposition toward God. Job’s wife tells him to curse God and die. “Curse God and get this suffering over with. Let him kill you-it’s better than going on like this.”

I don’t think Job’s wife is being insensitive. I think she’s just at her wits end seeing her husband suffer this severely. And don’t forget-she has lost everything too.

Job tells his wife that God hasn’t promised a trouble-free life. We need to be careful of thinking because we are devoted to God, that will translate into a life of ease. That’s not how God’s people lived. Yes, there were blessings but there was also plenty of hardship and testing too. “But that’s unfair!”

It does seem unfair that such a godly man as Job had to lose so much when he didn’t do anything wrong.

Job 42 ¹⁰ After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. ¹¹ All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house.

They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

¹² The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1000 yoke of oxen and 1000 donkeys.¹³ And he also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. ¹⁵ Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

¹⁶ After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. ¹⁷ And so Job died, an old man and full of years.

Sometimes we are going to have to go through some things. Love on those we despise.

John 4:1-4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John—² although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. ³ So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

“But He needed to go through Samaria.”  

Went to great lengths to not pass through Samaria.

Jesus took these Judean young men down a road they had never traveled before. This Divine detour was designed to confront their learned culture of generational bigotry.   Mixed Race … Unclean 

The people of Judah felt that Samaritans were the reason for their problems. Going through Samaria was their direct line to Galilee but they would rather walk hundreds of miles out of the way.

1. Wiersbe writes in his commentary:“So intense was their dislike of the Samaritans that some of the Pharisees prayed that no Samaritan would be raised in the resurrection!”

If we are going to see a shift in the world, there must be a shift in us!

There must be some repentance (Change of thinking)

It’s not fair to call yourself a disciple of Christ and cheapen grace by hating people regardless of their ethnicity, religion or political position.

John 4:27 “And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, ‘What do You seek?’ or, ‘Why are You talking with her?’”

3 Results Of Following Jesus:

1. 
   We find ourselves walking towards things we usually avoid.  Samaria
   What do you avoid? God is committed to making us whole.
   1 Thessalonians 5:23“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2. We find ourselves walking towards things we don’t understand.
   There are new things for us to embrace now … That’s really where repentance comes inCHANGE!!!
   John 4:27 “…they marvelled (surprised, shocked, astonished) that He talked with a woman…”
   There are new revelations for us to embrace. NOW! They not only found themselves walking through Samaria but stopping for lunch.

Christianity is more than a set of moral guidelines and behavioral modification classes. It is more than songs, feelings, and emotional promises. It is life to the lost. Liberty to the less fortunate, freedom to those who feel like a failure, hope for the hopeless and love for the unloved. It is Christ in action whatever the cost!

Sometimes in this pace of grace, God will intercept and intervene so that he can inject a change of direction.

3. We find ourselves walking into a greater capacity to express His unconditional LOVE!

Verses 40-41  “… they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own word.”
Acts 1:8 “…you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”   These guys need to repent of their wrong beliefs … called to take Gospel to world!

We need a working revelation of how it is to be a missionary in areas that you don’t understand, how to connect and relate.

Amos 5:24 (MSG) “Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.”

We are RE-presenting Jesus to a dying world.

WOMAN AT THE WELL:

John 4:5-6  “It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink’”   It wasn’t culturally appropriate to speak to a woman.    

4 Results Of Encountering Grace:

1. 
   You Realize Every Natural Well Leaves You Thirsty (It’s Not Fair … as a woman in that time)
   5 Husbands (SENSES)… With a guy now#6 (CONTROL) …  7th Man … Jesus perfect satisfaction. I’m sure she cried, It’s not fair! Why can’t I get it right? Jesus not only had to go through Samaria but he had a divine appointment for the woman at the well. Had he followed the fearful traditions going around Samaria She never would have had contact with the life giver Jesus!! She was so full of shame and despair she came at noon when it was quiet. Little did she know, she had an appointment with the GRACE GIVER.

Wherever you are in your NOT FAIR WORLD, Jesus is there.
The world’s not designed to pamper you … it is designed to make you grow up!!!! 

2. The supernatural, eternal, internal fountain of life that alone can satisfy your thirsty soul is the gracious Gift of God!

You get living water … bubbling up on the inside …  external things fade away!!!!
(Verse 14) “…whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.”
The Gospel is a big deal … the offer is incredible …

Jesus will never let you down! It not in his nature

3. You get healed and delivered from your pain and shame.
   John 4:29“Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.”
   But she beheld the very lover of her soul and received FREEDOM.
   There is no condemnation in Christ!!!    …    Her tragedy became a platform to share her triumph.

TOZER:—”The sweet language of experience is ‘Thou God sees Me’ When the eyes of the soul looking out meet the eyes of God looking in, heaven has begun right here on this earth.” 

4. Your freedom is a platform for manifesting the city-transforming power of the Grace of God.
   Jesus encounter with this woman’s pain … results in a city-wide revival!!!
   The incredible power of a testimony … The power of a transformed life!!!!

John 4:42 “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

John 4:13-14  “…but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”