Guiding Light: God Is Fair

If you look upon life as a journey, as many great writers have done, then you will know that this journey takes us at times through pleasant green meadows and lush river valleys; but at other times, this journey takes us through dry and arid deserts. When times are good, we are happy and offer gratitude to the Lord. But when things go wrong, we lose our equilibrium. It is at such moments that this question arises in the heart within: Is God fair? Is God really fair?

Before you finally decide whether God is fair or otherwise, I would wish to draw your attention to the following very important points:

1. We have all been given the freedom of choice. Man is free to choose between good and evil and selfishness and service. The choice is entirely his. With him rests the responsibility for his actions, for we cannot have rights without responsibilities.

If I have chosen the wrong path and I have encountered a bitter experience which I cannot swallow, how can I question God’s justice? Is it fair to blame God for the choices that I have made?

2. There are numerous occasions in life when people get things that they never expected or things that they have longed for. After a long wait, childless couples are blessed with an offspring. Another gets a long-awaited promotion. None of them ever think of telling God, “Why have you done this to me?”

3. God’s tender mercy to us is boundless. To people who come to me with bitter complaints against life, I pass on two sheets of paper. On one sheet I ask them to write all the cruel, the unfair, the unjust and the dishonest things that they have done. On the other one, I ask them to write down all the good and the unselfish deeds that they have done in their lifetime. You will find that the bad actions list is much longer than the other.

Is it fair then to ask whether God has been unfair or unjust to us?

It is undeniably true that with every suffering comes the healing mercy of God. With suffering comes wisdom and strength.

Dada J P Vaswani was a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader.

Published on: Tuesday, April 15, 2025, 08:42 AM IST