How to Keep Living When Life Isn’t Fair  - iBelieve Truth: A Devotional for Women - May 21, 2026

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous”--Matthew 5:44-45

How many times do we hear kids say, “That’s not fair?”

As humans, we soon learn, as we grow and mature, that it’s true: life isn’t fair, but thankfully, in the end, God is.

In my junior year of high school trigonometry class, although our teacher was a sweet, nice man, he just hadn’t gained the skills to teach us the course he knew so well in his head. So, to compensate, most of my classmates figured out how to cheat their way through the class, sharing the correct answers.

Although clueless myself, as a Christian, I couldn’t join their cheating team. Instead, I went to our teacher and told him I was completely lost in his class and asked if there was a way I could compensate so I could pass it.

He seemed to appreciate my forthrightness, and we worked out a plan: if I turned my homework in to him every day, even if it was incorrect, he would pass me in the class, and that’s what happened.

So even when it may seem to us at times that things aren’t fair, especially when we see things happening around us, such as cheating and taking advantage of others, where individuals are seemingly doing better than we are, we can still trust God in life’s unfair situations.

God Is Not Unaware

Still, we can find comfort in knowing that God is not unaware of their evil deeds, even though it may seem that way to us at times, when we see God taking care of their needs, even if they don’t believe in Him or know He is providing for them.

As the popular saying goes, the rich keep getting richer while the poor get poorer. Even though it’s not a sin to be rich, it often seems unfair to many of us that some have so much more than others, especially if it’s being gained unfairly, and we’re part of the others.

It can feel heartbreaking at times for us to see the unrighteous experiencing God’s goodness, especially when we know that so many of the righteous are struggling to make ends meet. 

But we can keep our eyes on the prize and what lies ahead for both the righteous and unrighteous in the life to come, where there is a settling up of earthly doings, and wrongs are made right.

God Will Right All Wrongs

For those of us who have been wronged here on earth, there is a lot of hope for us, an eternal hope that we can look towards while living in an unfair world.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we can look ahead and know that even when things aren’t fair here on earth, God’s plan includes righting wrongs.

As Romans 12:19, we can trust God, which frees us from trying to settle things ourselves here on earth, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.”

If we can look at life’s unfairness now as only temporary, trusting God and taking Him at His word, it helps us maneuver safely through its heartaches and difficulties, knowing God is taking note and isn’t missing what we’re going through.

Jesus was unfairly treated by an unfair world, innocent in every way, yet called guilty. Perfect in His behavior, yet deemed defective.

Still, out of the unfairness shown to Him, we received our Salvation, revealing that God can turn the unfairness we experience in life into something that brings life to us and those around us.

Holocaust survivor, Corrie ten Boom, is credited with saying, “Although the threads of my life have often seemed knotted, I know, by faith, that on the other side of the embroidery…there is a crown.”

We can also take comfort, assured by Jesus in Luke 8:17, “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”

Let’s Pray:

Dear Father, help us when life isn’t fair to have faith in You, knowing that in the end, You will right the wrongs we experience. Strengthen us to have confidence in Your will and plan for our lives, knowing unfair situations are temporary. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/recep-bg

Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.

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