It seems that when some people pray, they get their prayers answered quickly and easily. They get miracles. And then there are those who have pretty good lives. Every life has troubles but some people suffer more and some suffer less. And then those who have great faith. When they preach and pray there is great responsiveness.
So does it all depend on us? Are we just not Godly enough? Does God have favorites?
We know in our minds the truth. But sometimes our hearts tell a different story. We find ourselves wondering why? Why do some seem to have a special “in” with God? That no matter how much we pray, fast, read, confess, repent, serve and try our best to love, somehow we don’t have the spiritual results that they do.
I was struck with that this week when I read this Scripture:
“God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 Jn 1:5).
If I’m honest I wasn’t struck with warm, fuzzy feelings. My mind rejoiced, but my heart caught. There is no darkness in him. So why does it seem he has favorites that he blesses so abundantly?
I then went to the Scriptures to again examine the teaching on favoritism.
Exodus 23:3 and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit.
Leviticus 19:15 “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.
Acts 10:34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism
Romans 2:11 For God does not show favoritism.
Galatians 2:6 As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message.
Ephesians 6:9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
Colossians 3:25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.
1 Timothy 5:21 I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.
James 2:1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.
James 2:9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers
It says here that clearly God does NOT show favoritism. In fact, it is a sin and a perversion of justice and righteousness. His love is for rich/poor, Jew/Gentile and all people.
Perhaps it is striking a cord with me more recently as I’m struggling with this in my job. I’m in a situation where others are being shown favoritism and it hurts me financially. Speaking up about it has just made matters worse. It isn’t fair and my hands are tied to do something about it.
I think it’s also been an issue personally for me for years when there has been suffering. Or thousands of prayers that seem to go unanswered. How do we handle this?
- We first have to recognize the root and that is envy. It truly is. We want what others have even in their relationship with God. And sometimes we don’t know how to get it.
- God has different relationships with his children. As I’m reading through Daniel I see that the Lord is promising that there will be a season of horrific suffering. In the end God will defeat evil. But there will be those that will suffer greatly. Those times will be very trying to a person’s faith because during that season, prayers for deliverance will look different than what they thought.
- We must have an Eternal perspective. This life isn’t everything. It’s a speck in eternity. We have to keep remembering this.
I still don’t know at times why some people have a very special relationship with the Lord. I have a friend who spends her whole day seeking the Lord in His Word, in prayer, in repentance and in service, yet still feels no breakthrough. I don’t get it.
But with things we do not understand it isn’t the end of the world. We trust that in eternity all will be made right, that we will see and understand hopefully more the bigger picture.
Until then, we stay faithful. We throw off any notion that God has favorites and respect that he has his children go through different things. That he hears and answers every prayer even though it might not look like how we want it to look.
