A Hard Lesson to Learn...Life's Not Always Fair // M-Note 1.31.2026

When my kids were young, like most siblings, there would be conflict. Over the course of a day, they would get into some kind of argument. They would come to me or Jess to plead their case. We would often let them work it out, but occasionally we would intervene and make a judgment. Inevitably one of them would not like our decision and we would hear those familiar words, “but it not fair…” I often found myself saying something that my parents used to say to me, “Well, sometimes life is not fair.”
 
You’ve probably heard this. Maybe like me, you have even said it. While it may be a clichéd and expected bit of parental wisdom, one of the hardest realities about life is that it is often unfair. As we get older, the stakes get bigger. Injustice is all around us. We see it on the national scene and throughout systems in our country that are unfair to certain people. We see it in our workplaces and organizations. We see it in our own lives. People don’t always do the right thing, systems are unfair, and the world is often unjust. Just like my kids used say, “it’s not fair.”
 
All of us have experienced this. We get passed over for an opportunity at work that we deserved. Friends betray us, or people that are supposed to have our best interests in mind let us down. Leaders look out for themselves, “isms” are real, and not all people have an equal chance for opportunities. Sometimes organizations and systems do not work as they are supposed to. Due to forces outside of your control, your life plans can be messed up because life is not always fair.
 
Something I have tried to teach my kids is that we cannot always control what happens to us. But, we do get to control how to respond. This is especially true when unfair things happen in our life. This weekend, I am going to finish our series Shift Happens: When Life Doesn’t Go as Planned. I will be talking about how to respond to the injustice and unfairness that we all experience in life. We will be looking at the story of Joseph, a guy who relentlessly kept moving forward in the face of repeated injustices. It will be an important and relevant message for all of us.
 
Last weekend was a snow day but this weekend we will be back in worship at all FOUR of our sites. Our Metro East site is now worshiping weekly, so if you live on the Illinois side, I hope you will check it out and support our newest Gathering site. All of our locations and worship times are here and you can always worship online here.
 
Have a good weekend, and I will see you in church tomorrow!
 
Peace,
 
Matt
 
P.S. Tuesday I will be leaving for Egypt along with 45 others from The Gathering. We will be retracing the footsteps of Moses and the Exodus. Please be in prayer for us as we travel. If you want to follow the trip and hear some of my reflections, make sure to follow me on Facebook.