I went to a funeral this week for a 33 year old woman. I saw pictures of her as a cute little toddler, a young girl, and as a new mom, and now lying dead in a coffin.
She was a woman I had met about 2 years ago. A woman who had suffered so much since she was a young girl. Those who were to love and cherish her broke her the most.
She was a precious woman we gave love and support to.
Its not fair the horrid things she has suffered. Its not fair she was not able to break free of the many chains that held her down. Its not fair we could not love her enough. Its not fair she was not fully able to be the mom her kids needed her to be. Its not fair her kids do not have their mommy anymore.
Life is not fair- ever. Why do we expect it? Why do we even strive for it?
Let’s get some perspective on numbers. @41,000 seats in Miller Park and there are @80,000 seats in Packer stadium.
In the united states for last year
@607,000 cancer deaths (That’s filling the packer stadium 7.5 times)
@,876,000 abortions (almost 11 times)
@434,000 rapes/sexual assaults (5.4 times) -Every 73 seconds an American is sexually assualted
@791,000 incl 50,042 by opioids (pain relievers) (almost 10 times)
@300,000 victims of sexual trafficking (almost 4 times)
@16,214 murders
There are lost jobs, mental illness, lost businesses, divorce, disabilities, …
Take a look at other countries around the world and you will find life MUCH more unfair. Their living conditions, More murders, more rapes, genocides….
EVEN with all those horrible numbers above…. WE in America have it pretty good compared to a majority of the world. I see us Americans as mostly striving to stay in our bubbles of control or safety. We are afraid of losing our comforts, suffering any of the issues I have just laid out. BUT we cannot escape …
Life is not fair.
If you are looking for the concept of fairness in the Bible- it will be a long search. Its all real life- unfair. We are often powerless to change many of our circumstances –let alone someone elses. We cannot change others behaviors, or undo moments of harm done to us. I believe our best recourse is to ask God to change us and help us through it. What we do with our life, our choices, is more important than what happens to us. Sound familiar? Those come back stories, those overcoming stories… We can too.
SO enough of the horror and sadness. I want to challenge you. I challenge you to break free from your bubble. Do not settle for surviving, maintaining, striving for fairness.
Do you know why we like our bubbles? Its human nature.
It’s a thing called-
Loss aversion refers to people’s tendency to prefer avoiding losses to acquiring equivalent gains: it is better to not lose $5 than to find $5
We fear pain from loss more than we desire pleasure from gain.
The aversive response reflects the critical role of negative emotions (anxiety and ,fear) to losses in other words, loss aversion is an expression of fear.
DO NOT LET fear over rule your future.
Did any of those horrid issues I brought up- stir you up or make you feel angry, distraught? Maybe you could consider doing something about it.
I was led to start RRC, because I wanted more out of life. I didn’t want to just survive anymore. I am not a rescuer. I am not a savior. I am a woman that was willing to be a bit more uncomfortable to make a difference in others lives.
If you want to see how you can make a difference too- please email me!
I want to tell you one more thing one more BIG thing that is unfair in this world. It is unfair that our creator, the one true God, sent His son to suffer brutally and die – so that we could know Him personally, experience His grace and mercies, to have abundant life through all the challenges in this world and eventually live in complete freedom and restoration with him- when he allows us into heaven.
You say why is this unfair? Its unfair because he knows our hearts, our secrets, all our failings, and yet loves us. He welcomes us in our filth. He is patient and faithful as we begin to walk out our restoration. I know this because he gave us His Bible to learn from and I know from personal experience.
Again- if you want to learn more about Him or Redeem and Restore Center- email me and we will talk!
- Chaplain Krista Hull
