A Generous God
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so high are my ways above your ways
and my thoughts above your thoughts.”Isaiah 55:8-9
Have you ever been in a situation when you found yourself thinking, “Wait a second… that’s not fair!” Maybe at work you and a fellow coworker did the same amount of work but when the end of the week comes he receives praise and you do not or when a coworker who did less than you and yet gets the same bonus. There are some things that just don’t seem fair, but they happen. The ways of human beings are sometimes not fair and biased and rigged. But things with God aren’t exactly “fair” either.
Perhaps you are asking, “What do you mean?” God isn’t fair. And we should be grateful for that. How often do the things that we do, the thoughts that we think, and the words that we say defile us? Think about the that unkind word we said or the last time we wronged someone, and maybe even in ways that are unspeakable, and yet we are still here, alive and breathing. When our sins merit us death, God does not take our lives; instead He forgives. How blessed are we that our God is a God that is not fair!
Because God is unfair and that His ways are above our ways and His thoughts above our thoughts, we have great gift of salvation and the opportunity to experience His creation. God’s mercy is shown to all unconditionally — those who have committed numerous mortal sins, those who have committed venial sins, those who have just come out of confession. God’s love and mercy is freely given; we just need to want to receive it. God loves the murderer on death row as much as He loves us. Our human instincts might tempt us to think, “Well I go to Church every Sunday and I give to the poor, shouldn’t God love me a bit more or my chance getting into heaven higher than that inmate on death row?” The answer is no. Sometimes it may be hard to accept, but when we think about it from a different perspective — “Why does it matter? I am loved by God from all eternity and He sent His Son to die for me! So what if He loves that inmate as much? I should be happy that God is that merciful and loving!”
If we are also able to reflect upon our own choices and mistakes, we ought to be grateful and that should naturally lead us away from comparison with others in regards to our “dignity” before God. One quote from St. Augustine always humbles me and brings me to my knees, especially when I begin to feel I am better than someone else, “Man is a beggar before God.” All human beings are beggars before God — royalty, common people, everyone. Yet, God regards each one of us beggars as His beloved son and daughter. Truly, how generous is our God, and how grateful we ought to be that our God does not treat us fairly!
