Friday 11 January 2008

The Greatness of Fairness


How fair is fair? Who could decide what is fair for everyone involved? Who could possible be fair to all parties? Only God our creator could be considerate to everyone and make sure we all get a fair deal - eventually. There are those who have all they want right now; there are those who wait a life time and never seem to get it. There is a promise of an after life where those who gave up things for the Gospel's sake will get 100 fold rewards: those who gave up houses and lands, mothers and fathers, sister and brothers, possessions and wealth will receive 100 fold in this life and in the life to come plus some persecution in this life.
Isn't so that when you get, others want? Gary Player said after winning a golf tournament all the charity organizations wanted his winnings! If someone is known to be rich he is envied and people curse him behind his back. Envy, jealousy and hatred go with the package!
Reinhard Bonnke a German missionary to Africa received a brand new BMW as a gift from a friend and suddenly his sponsorships diminished for his missions! Only after he got rid of the new car did people start giving again.
There seems to be a balance in the universe: some get it now, some later, but the good Lord sees to it that we all get our fair share of love and hatred; abundance and lack; praise and criticism; acceptance and rejection. For how would one appreciate acceptance if you have never tasted rejection?
A mother was worried about the ego's of her two boys when she baked the first pancake and introduced the subject with the line, 'if Jesus was here he would certainly take the second pancake!' So the one boy said to the other:' Ok, Jake, you be Jesus today!'
In our home we had a situation that seemed impossible to solve: Nola has to go to UK and Scotland to minister about praise and worship and she and Mimi one of her friends from Pretoria is going along with her. They want to visit Holland and Italy on the same trip. Initially I thought it was a bit long, but they insisted, so Graham in Birmingham helped me set up the tour.
But a few nights before Nola's departure Hilton our 12 year old turning 13 voiced his opinion: 'I don't want you to go away for such a long time, Mom!' Nola is the mainstay in his preparations for his Music Scholarship for College and he also talks a lot to her before going to bed. I'm his sports coach and buddy at this age! (Surfing, golf, cricket!) So I understood his tearful plea for her to cancel the trip.
I was thinking, 'how will I ever be able to set all this ministry up for Nola again? Will they ever believe me if I say, this time she is really coming to you?' I made peace with the fact that she would not go. Nola cried in bed and said, 'why must things be so hard?' She has given herself to her children for a life time and went without many things for the sake of raising children and being in the ministry with me. It's not been easy!
The following day Eben our travel agent suggested, 'why don't they go for a shorter period?' I approached Hilton with the suggestion. 'Last year Mom went to France for two weeks and I handled it well. But three weeks is too long!' So I asked Nola if she would cut out the week in Holland. Mimi could still go. She consented. So we did not have to cut out any ministry appointments and Mimi could spend some time alone, something she always wanted to do and everyone concerned received a fair treatment in the end.
The Spirit of the Lord is a spirit of counsel. He leads us and guides us into all truth and shows us things to come!
There is a balance in nature, in life, in sport, in relationships - we just have to learn to trust. Look at Nelson Mandela: 27 years in prison and then President in our nation and an International person of the Century! Joseph sold as a slave and thrown into prison and then becomes the Prime Minister of Egypt and eventually feeds his entire family! Saul persecutes the church and then suffers greatly for the sake of the Gospel but writes more than half of the New Testament: the glory outweighs the suffering.
There is a balance: a fairness in everything, in the end, if we can learn to put our trust in our Maker who alone is wise enough to give everyone a fair deal!

1 comment:

david santos said...

Thanks for your posting, Apostle André.

Have a good weekend