What to do with "Unfair"


I have a friend that is being bullied at work.  She is a high-power executive in a stressful work environment.  She knows her job well as well as the ropes that operate the world in which she lives.  Her bully is mean and selfish … and getting ahead in life.  She supports her mother and other family members out of the generosity of her heart without being asked or expecting anything in return.  It’s not fair. 
There is a “mean girl” at school.  She has said things behind my daughter’s back.  My daughter is a kind soul, a peace-maker, a good egg.  She would never think of being cross with someone … and it she did she would have a pit in her stomach until she made it right.  It’s not fair.
I have a friend who is facing a health crisis.  She is watching her 86 year old Dad go into open heart surgery.  She is not only facing the reality of her father’s immortality, she is facing her own.  What happens next?  Will she have to care for her aging parents?  She faces her retirement years worrying about her “job” as a possible primary caregiver.  It’s not fair.
My sweet Libby has learning problems.  She works twice as hard as any other 3rd grader and still can't work at grade level.  She reads at a 1st grade level, struggles in math, and writing sentences is equal to trying to paint the Mona Lisa.  We spent lots of time on homework that should only take us a few minutes.  She is a trooper.  She never complains.  It's not fair.
I’ve got my own “unfair” issues.  I probably shouldn’t list them. 
What do you do with “unfair”?
As a person who has made a public declaration that I am a follower of Jesus Christ, the answer is … I take “unfair” to Jesus. 
That’s sound good, but, when I take it, I find it hard to sometimes lie down.  I’d like to say that I am super spiritual, finding that when the least little infraction of fairness is  being violated, I simply and quickly run to Jesus and hand it over to him.  Yet, I sometimes carry it around in my heart a little.  I chew on the fact that it is unfair; making it all the more painful to my heart.  I used to hide that from Jesus.  I didn’t want him to see me as a jerk.
Bottom line:  I got to take it all to Jesus.  The fact that I may be a jerk is not wasted on Him, this Keeper of my Heart.  He knows.  I’m finding freedom, the older I get, to come quickly before Jesus … admitting my jerkiness before Him.  As He and I lay things on the table (so to speak) we can deal with it quicker.  I can feel the sweet freedom of being open and honest.  Then, in the light of His truth, I can see the error of my ways, and move on … in Grace … in Peace … never in accusation … never with my tail between my legs … never.
Life will always be unfair.  I don’t have to like it … but I do have to deal with it.  Dealing with it makes me more likely to rise above it.  I can’t do it on my own.  But, when I take it to Jesus, bear my soul, cry (because I’m a girl and feels good to get it all out) … I get a new perspective.  Fair.  Unfair.  It really doesn’t matter.  For me, the question becomes what is the condition of my heart in the middle of it … clean or unclean.  Pure or impure.  Ouch. 
And then, as if He is putting icing on a really good cake, gluten free and free of calories, He gives me still more in His word:  the righteous person (the one who knows that Jesus has all the answers to life’s problems … and things that are “unfair”) faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.
Today my rescue may be a lifting on the “unfair”.  Tomorrow the rescue could be from me … the lifting of a bad attitude because of His goodness and healing in my life.
Take it to Jesus.  Be real.  He is the answer.

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