Supplies: Bible; a small reward (coin, small treat, pencil, etc.); family game (optional)
SHARE
Start your time together by playing a game as a family. It could be something quick, like “I Spy,” or if you have time, you could play something more involved, like Candy Land or Uno. Be sure it’s a game that has one clear winner. Let everyone know that there will be a prize at the end. Once someone has won the game, give the reward to someone who DID NOT win the game.
How do you feel when someone gets something they didn’t earn or deserve? What about when you’re the one who deserves it? It doesn’t seem fair, right? We like to use that phrase. In fact, we get pretty upset when things seem unfair.
READ
This week Habakkuk deals with what he thinks is unfairness on God’s part. Read Habakkuk 1:1-13.
THINK
Habakkuk is frustrated by all the sin he sees in God’s people, the Israelites. They should be listening to the Lord and following his law, and they are so not. So he asks God a bold question: when are you going to fix their little red wagons? When are you going to send us a leader who will straighten all of this disobedience out and get these people in line again? And God is faithful—he answers Habakkuk! But what he says isn’t what Habakkuk expects. Basically, God has given power to the Babylonians, the most sinful, evil people around. God’s going to let this group invade Judah and conquer them—the Babylonians will take over Judah and capture the Israelites as their slaves basically.
When he hears God’s plan, Habakkuk responds like you did after your game. “That’s not fair!” he cries to God. “Yes, the Israelites are disobeying you. And yes, they need to be corrected. But how is it right, how is it justice if an even WORSE group of people gets to take charge? These people don’t even know you, God! They don’t worship you—they don’t even believe in you—and they get to win?? That’s not fair!”
APPLY
Man, we know what it’s like to be Habakkuk. There are a lot of things in our world that aren’t fair. Someone cheats on a test and gets a better grade than someone who studied. You get in trouble for something you didn’t do. The class bully also ends up as the teacher’s pet. A junior employee gets promoted before you do. Someone who doesn’t go to church or even know God seems to get everything they want in life. It’s easy to get up on our box and declare that what we see isn’t fair.
We forget that God never promised to be fair. In fact, he promised the exact opposite! Paul reminds us in Romans that everyone who sins DESERVES to die, and, oh, by the way—we’ve all sinned! But instead of giving us the death we earned, the death that is rightly ours, God promises to give us grace and mercy, forgiveness and compassion. He promises to wipe the slate clean and give us a new start when we make Jesus our Lord and Savior. Talk about not fair! And praise the Lord, too!
When we look around and see things that look unfair, we want to remember that God is working things to his glory. He wants to show us his grace and mercy. His desire is to see all people come to know him and call him Lord. When we focus on that, we can trust that whatever God is doing, even if it seems unfair, he’s doing for a great and loving purpose.
PRAY
Father God, thank you for being unfair. Thank you for giving us blessings and mercy when we really deserve punishment and death. Help us to not have judging eyes. Help us to not look for the unfair, but instead to look for your grace and mercy. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen
REPLY
Did you and your family enjoy this devotional blog? We'd love to know about it! Our hope is to continue providing this weekly opportunity for families to do a devotion together. If your family did this devotion, please shoot us an email, text or just post a comment to this blog.
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