When Life Doesn't Feel Just or Fair... A Five Minute Friday post.

***

I have been quiet(er) than normal lately -- both in this space and in real life... mostly this is because of oral surgery and a slower than hoped for recovery. It's amazing how teeth/jaw/ear pain can make you not want to talk --or think, or do much of anything else either, really! Still... that's only part of why I've grown quiet.  I'd like to think it is maturity and wisdom (--I know that it is!--) but that maturity comes from mostly letting Him be the boss of me --not only with what I say and write but also with what I think and focus on! (It's a journey, Y'all!)

This is a Five Minute Friday post... which simply means I set a timer

and free write for five minutes flat on the one-word prompt: JUST

{GO!}

I set the timer to five minutes and mull over the word prompt. "Just" immediately points me to Justice and because of the season we have been walking through, my mind then jumps to thinking about how to live out our faith when Life doesn't feel Just or Fair!

Because you guys: I can stomp my foot and curl out my bottom lip with the best of them! I can... (and I have! But thankfully, mostly that has been at home in private! Mostly!)

Here's the thing: 

Life is NOT Just or Fair.

Not all of the time, anyway!

It's just not... and we can want justice and fairness for us --not realizing that even if we got our way, the injustice and unfairness would probably still be there --but for someone else. (It's that whole 'us' and 'them' dilemma!)

I'm not saying it is impossible and I am, of course, in no way saying that we shouldn't FIGHT for Justice. We most certainly should! 

We stand in the gap and declare and decree freedom and justice for the oppressed and the enslaved, for the abused and the neglected, for nations and tribes and for our neighbors down the road or across the pew (and not just for ourselves!)

Yes... let's stand for what is good and true and right!

And let's do it with grace and mercy... 

...not losing sight of the fact that

Jesus loves EVERY person on each side

of the issue or circumstance!

I know, right? It's so hard!

(And that thought alone can feel unjust and unfair!)

So how do we keep our Faith when Life doesn't feel Just or Fair? 

We keep it quietly... 
We hold on to Him and trust that
He is working it all out...
We hold our tongue
and keep our cool
and trust that He truly does
make all things beautiful!
Because...
He does!

He is the only One who can work things out for my good

AND work things out for your good... 

He's the only One who knows how to look at

the full picture of what is happening and

zero in on the root of it all... 

and work it out for good 

--for both/all sides!

He's so smart, you guys! 

And He doesn't want us to live in the dark, unaware... 

He doesn't want for us to camp out and be a victim...

He actually tells us how to live!

"But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women.It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love,And don’t take yourself too seriously— take God seriously." Micah 6:8 The Message

This is how we live... 
This is how we continue on
when life is fair and when it is unfair...
when life is just or unjust.  
We are called to do what is fair and just to our neighbors...
to be compassionate and loyal in our love... 
and to not take ourselves too seriously!

I can't say for you - but for me? A lot of the times that I have felt the sting of injustice or unfairness, chances are good I wanted my way and I'm pretty sure I was taking myself too seriously.

The Bible also tells us to do unto others as we'd have them do unto us (Luke 6:31)! So even if it's true and life is treating us unfairly and justice is far from what is being handed out to us... even then, we are sowing seeds for a Harvest, so let's be sure we are sowing for the Harvest that we long for!

The Bible also says in Zephaniah 3:5 that "

The Lord is righteous within her;He will do no injustice.Every morning He brings His justice to light;He does not fail..."

He does not fail... 
so if things feel hard and heavy,
weighed down with injustice
and fairness is nowhere in sight,
rest in knowing He is not done
working things out for you!

Here's the other thing:

You can know how to walk this out and you can be well-versed in patience and trust and peace and faith and that old flesh still may raise up and try to convince you to tell your side or to set the record straight.  The enemy may whisper lies to you in an attempt to get you to jump to conclusions or pick at old wounds. 

But, friends, don't you do it!

Don't lose sight of the One who paid for it all!
Don't forget that He is for you and not against you!
Don't let seeds unworthy of you be planted, 
but rather, fling seeds of faith and love
with reckless abandon,
and watch and see what the Lord will do!

{STOP!}

We have been going through the Book of Colossians,

verse by verse and as I wrapped up this post as

my timer buzzed, I remembered Col 1:5 which reads:

 "Your faith and love rise within you as you access all the treasures of your inheritance stored up in the heavenly realm. For the revelation of the true gospel is as real today as the day you first heard of our glorious hope, now that you have believed in the truth of the gospel." Col 1:5 TPT

May we access all the treasures of our inheritance stored up in the heavenly realm.  

How do we do this in the face of the hard and heavy...

of feeling misunderstood or misrepresented,

misquoted or misinformed? 

We press into the revelation of the true gospel...

And what is the True Gospel, you may ask!?

It's simply this:
Love wins!

Let Love Win... 

even if/when it feels like that is making you lose.

Let Love Win!  

All of Heaven takes notice when we

choose the Way of Jesus! 

By laying down your life, 

you grab hold of eternity

and with every tiny death, 

more Life floods in!

It's not easy...

But it IS right...

It is the true Gospel that

we are called to live out loud

and it's the Love that rights every wrong

in the end anyway!

Just Breathe, and Pray, and Trust, and Wait...

He's working things out for your good!

* = This is when my Five Minutes was officially over! Thanks for the Grace, friends, to finish my thought!

Linking up with Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today.  Five Minute Fridays give us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click HERE to read what others have to say about "JUST"

The FMF lowdown: The gathering happens on Twitter on Thursday nights & then we write our hearts out & hit publish all over the interwebs on Thursday & Friday (& sometimes on Tuesdays!) It's where we encourage & uplift... where we share prayer requests & praise reports... where we talk about food & friends & we find support & kindred hearts. It's where we are reminded that life is good & God is good & we're not alone... & then we all write for five minutes flat, a flash mob of wordsmiths letting our hearts & our fingers do the talking tapping & we hit publish before we can second-guess it all away. We'd love to have you join us!

Photos courtesy of Unsplash from Aaron Burd

I'm also linking up with the lovely writer community linked below:

Crystal Twaddell for #FreshMarketFriday

Mary Geisen for #TellHisStory

Kelly Balarie for #RaRaLinkUp

Sue Donaldson for #LetsHaveCoffee

Maybe somehow you don't know this, but we have our very own (somewhat non-blog-related) podcast called THE CHANGING OUR MINDS PODCAST! Karrilee and her all grown up Girlie co-host this podcast and talk about Oh So Many random things!  Faith plays a part, sure... but it is more like joining us for coffee as we catch up on the couch or sitting at the table! We talk about whatever is on our minds and often reveal things that we used to think we knew... but we've changed our minds! We'd love to have you join us at the Table or a comfy couch as we catch up over a cup of something yummy and share life together! We invite you to SUBSCRIBE here to have the Podcast sent to your preferred listening device so you won't miss a thing! Also, follow us on Facebook to join in on the conversations!