Life Seems to be Unfair

Aunty Lynn gave a sermon on 'When Life seems to be unfair' in church today based on the book of Ruth (one of the two books named after a woman in the Bible). Sometimes, I really do feel unfair in life. Why do some people only have to study a little bit and they score 100% while I studied like crazy and only scored less than their marks and the list of unfairness just goes on. Aunty Lynn used Ruth as an example to tell us how we should react when facing obstacles in life. Ruth lost her father-in-law, brother-in-law and husband. In those time, being a widow is not easy. It could be well described as it was better off to die than to survive because basically the widow couldn't support herself. However Ruth chose to be positive and stayed with her mother-in-law, Naomi. She worked hard to support herself and Naomi and even obeyed Naomi. God must be pleased with Ruth's attitude and she was blessed in her marriage with Boaz and with a son. Aunty Lynn also told another story to illustrate two ways of looking at things. Two salesmen were sent to an island to sell shoes. The first fellow went and after looking at the situation at the island, he called back to the office and told them not to send any shoes because none of the islanders wore shoes. The other fellow came to the island and he was excited to see the bare-footed islanders. Immediately, he called back to his office and told them to send a container of shoes to the island for none of the islanders wore shoes and he could sold shoes to them. This story is similar to the half-filled cup. Some say it is half empty while some say it is half full. Rather than self pitying in difficult times like Naomi, it would be better to look at the bright side of the problem and try to make things better like Ruth. Aunty Lynn summed up the sermon with a powerful statement from Phillip Yancey's book which really spoke to me. Everyone, and even Jesus was not exempted from unfairness. Christ did nothing wrong and yet He was on the cross for our sins. I pray that the cross will always remind me of the sacrificial love of Jesus. The more we turn our eyes upon the glory of Jesus, the dimmer is the unfairness in life. It is through unfairness and difficulties in life that God showed His power and love for us. Thank you God for your teachings. May You bless me with wisdom in my words and actions too! Amen!