Fairness and the Sovereignty of God

Many times we look at our circumstances and from our perspective things seem unfair.

But when we take a step back we can see that God is trying to teach us a bigger lesson.

This past weekend at the speech tournament I was in the TAB room. Let me tell you first off that those ladies back there are AMAZING! You have no idea how many things they are juggling to get everyone to the right place, to be fair and above reproach and to keep things running as close to time as possible.

I had the privilege of filing ballots so I knew how my children were doing after each round and who would be in his room each time.

Z did very well (even amongst top competitors) in the first round. But 2 things happened in the second round to off set those initial good rankings...

1. He was placed in the exact same room with the same competitors (only one new competitor) and
2. The judges asked the students to choose their topic at the judges table before going to their card box.

This 2nd thing threw Z off. And when he couldn't find the card he had chosen in his box, he had a choice
1. To give up
2. To make an appeal.

2 years ago, he would have given up. But this time, he made an appeal to the judges. They accepted it and he was able to continue. He didn't do as well in that round. BUT....I can tell you that I am more proud of him for making that appeal than any award that he could have won.

On Sunday morning I was reading through his ballots and was so blessed. When we started 2 years ago, every one of his ballots said "More eye contact" or "Don't read your card". This time everyone of his ballots said "Great eye contact" and "Confident and sincere."

What a long way we've come since the beginning.

So why the title Fairness and the Sovereignty of God? Because looking at the situation in the natural, I could focus on how things might seem unfair, but in the bigger picture and in the Sovereignty of God we learned a more valuable lesson!

I pray that the next time we are tempted to complain about fairness in any aspect of life that we will take a step back and remember that God is in control and look for the bigger lesson he has for us.