Does God play favorites?

Tonight my girls fell asleep earlier than usual, so I decided to browse facebook. I was sending a message to a friend I have been concerned about and noticed this post on her wall. It intrigued my curiosity and it touched me profoundly. I apologize, I do not know the Author but I still wish to share it with you and maybe add a few thoughts of my own at the end.

"Yesterday I posted a question on my status asking people if they thought that God played favorites. I enjoyed reading the responses given by my Godly friends. I wanted to chime in with my own ideas on the subject but since the comment box is too small I decided to just write a note. Two weeks ago I attended a class at an autism conference that was entitled “Whatever Happens to the Siblings of Children With Autism?” It was led by a lady who was the mother of 3 children and her oldest son who was the only non-disabled one of the three. His twin brothers, who were 18 months younger than him, have autism and one of them also has cerebral palsy. It was an excellent and very encouraging class, but one thing stood out to me. The mother mentioned that while her children were growing up they had a sign in their house that read, “Fair is not Equal and Equal is not Fair.” These 3 boys were never treated the same way because their children had different needs. The oldest son had more chores and responsibilities. The twins got more of their parents attention. The parents spent much more money on the needs of their twins than the needs of their oldest son. However, the oldest son got to do a lot of things that the twins didn’t. Were they playing favorites? I believe that even parents of children who are all typically developing can understand this concept. All children are different. They all have different physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs. And it would not be fair for us as parents to treat them all the same. So… does God play favorites? Well, due to the fact that he is a loving Father and we are all his beloved children I believe that he loves us all the same. Because, after all, how could God, who is the very definition of “love” love someone… less? No, he is ALL loving, ALL the time. He is ALL good, All righteous, and All just. Did God love Jacob more than Esau? Abraham more than Job? Or John (who died of natural causes at a ripe old age) more than Peter (who was crucified upside down)? (see John 21:18-22). So, as someone commented on my status, it does seem that God blesses some people more than others and that some people have more crosses to bear. And I think that this is true. However, we have to be very careful to not equate this with how much God loves us. God is Love. And this means that He can only act in loving ways. God is just. And this means that he gives each and every one of us exactly what we need when we need it. Unfortunately, He normally does not choose to explain himself to us, but asks us to just trust Him…just ask Job. Job never did know what was going on behind the scenes or the reason for all of his troubles. But there was a reason. It was not random. And in the end Job declares, “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted… Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.” Job 42:2-3. Once again, it all comes down to trust (aka “faith”), which is something that I struggle with greatly. Sometimes I want to throw myself onto the ground and throw a temper tantrum screaming, “It’s not fair! Why does SHE have typically developing children? Why do THEY have so much money? Why does HE have his health? Why do THEY have the perfect marriage?” And though this response does not particularly upset the LORD (he understands), it is also not very helpful to me. So I will resolve to remember that my Father loves me more than words can say. And I will determine to count my blessings, since there are many. After all, “Fair is not Equal and Equal is not Fair.”

I love the quote, "Fair is not Equal and Equal is not Fair." I particularly like it because it gives me a response to my 3 year old whom has begun to tell me, "That's not Fair!", although I don't think she knows what that means yet. I don't find it a coincidence that when I went visiting teaching tonight the lesson was on finding the good throughout the bad. We tend to be quick to ask, "Why me?", instead of being able to see the good that comes from it. Sometimes it takes awhile before we can see the good, but the good is always there as is our Heavenly Father.

I'd love to hear some feed back on this subject, What are your thoughts?