Hypothetical scenario: There are ten righteous people who have strived to live Godly, God-honoring lives. They have all committed their lives to the Lord, and have served Him faithfully for many years. As they move into the middle adult years, five of these individuals enjoy healthy lives, and the bounty of material blessings. The other five face struggles, troubles, sicknesses, and financial disaster.

Question: Was God unfair to the five who suffered, struggled, and experienced personal disaster? Could He not have provided for them as He did for the prosperous five? Is God obligated to provide health and prosperity to those who strive to serve Him?

Let’s allow the Bible to provide the answers to these probing questions. A look at several prominent Biblical characters will help us reach a conclusion. It may not prove to be a conclusion we necessarily like, but we will reach a conclusion none-the-less. We will give consideration to Abraham, Isaiah, Paul, and Jesus.

Abraham – Without question, one of the most prominent, well-known, and highly beloved Biblical characters is Abraham. His story is one of excitement, intrigue, extreme blessing and extreme hardship. For reasons known only to God, Abram was chosen from all the human population to be the father of the Hebrew nation. He was called to leave his home, his family, his country, but he was promised to be the father of a great nation. He prospered immensely, and experienced God’s blessing and bounty. However, in the midst of all the blessing and bounty, Abram also experienced seasons of struggle and uncertainty. Some of his struggle was a result of his own poor decisions, while others were a direct result of God’s providential guidance in Abram’s life.

Isaiah – He has been called the Prince of the Prophets. Isaiah’s message is one of ultimate hope and blessing for the people of Israel, but it is also one filled with warning to the people if they did not follow God’s Word. Isaiah is also known as the Evangelical Prophet due to the fact that his writings contain many prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. One might think that since he was so committed to the Lord that his life would have been filled with blessings and bounty. However, tradition tells us that Isaiah was ultimately killed – perhaps by being sawn in half inside a hollow log – for his faithfulness in proclaiming the message God had given him. Being faithful to God did not protect Isaiah from suffering and even martyrdom.

Paul – The Apostle Paul is accredited with writing about half of the New Testament. He is definitely one of the most prominent figures in all of Scripture. God used Paul to take the Gospel to the Gentiles, breaking down the wall of separation between Jew and Gentile. He planted and established churches as he traveled on three separate missionary journeys. He lived a life of total commitment to God after his amazing conversion on the road to Damascus, where he was going to persecute Christians. Paul testified that he had suffered greatly because of his Christian faith (read 2 Corinthians 11:22ff for Paul’s description of his suffering). He was ultimately executed for his commitment to the calling of God on his life.

Jesus – I hesitate to include Jesus in this blog. But, the reason I chose to do so is simply because He is the one Person who never did anything to cause His personal suffering. We could say of Abraham, Isaiah, Paul, and every other Biblical character, that they all deserved to suffer. But not Jesus! All others were sinners, but not Jesus. All others fell far short of God’s standard of holiness, but not Jesus. And yet, Jesus suffered – horribly. And the Bible reveals a most remarkable thing about Jesus’ suffering: it was all pre-ordained from the foundation of the world! Yes, Jesus’ suffering was part of God’s plan to bring about salvation for people like Abraham, Isaiah, Paul, you, me.

Each of the four Biblical characters we have given consideration to in this blog were men who followed God, who served God, who gave their lives to fulfill the calling of God. And each of them suffered terribly for it. Was God unfair to them?

Going back to our hypothetical scenario at the beginning of this blog, was God unfair to the five who lived lives of suffering and struggle? Sometimes we look at life on a personal level, and at other times we look at a much bigger picture, and we ask ourselves the question, why doesn’t God do something? Well, the answer is that God is always doing something. He is always working in our lives. He is bringing about His purposes and plans, and nothing can ever thwart His plans.

God’s desire is that we choose to bring Him glory and honor through all of life’s experiences. When He chooses to bring prosperity into our lives, then we are to give Him thanks and glorify Him before others. When He chooses to bring hardship and suffering into our lives, then we are to give Him thanks and glorify Him before others. Life is our vehicle, and the world around us is our arena, through which we are to live life to His glory.

Is God unfair? Never! Does He ever act unjustly? Never! The path He chooses for us may not seem fair, and it may at times be filled with uncertainty, but He knows the way, and it is always fair simply because we are His creation, and our ultimate purpose is the glorify Him, and to enjoy Him forever.

So what’s happening in your personal arena right now? No matter how it appears from this faulty human perspective, rest assured that God has set the path, and He provides the grace, for us to glorify Him in the midst of the blessing and bounty, as well as in the suffering and struggle. To God be the glory, greats things He has done!