Read: Matthew 5:43–47
God makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. Matthew 5:45
We make judgments and evaluate people every day; in fact, we do this every moment of our lives. We judge and evaluate the situations we find ourselves in, as well as the opportunities and challenges we encounter. We try to figure out where our time and effort is best placed. We choose to invest ourselves in the good and promising employee. We focus our attention on the attractive and captivating man or woman. We even offer a bit more of ourselves to the child of ours who behaves better. We judge the good and the bad, and we invest ourselves accordingly.
Jesus tells us that this is not the way of God. God allows sun and rain to nourish the good and the evil, the just and the unjust, the righteous and the unrighteous. Sunlight and rain are the ingredients for growth, and God makes sure everyone gets their fair share—even when God is displeased with their growth trajectory. But why? Why waste resources on unproductive and undeserving people and situations? Why should good things happen to bad people? God believes that bad people, when given the right opportunity and care, can choose to be good people. And frankly, that is good news for all of us less than perfect people.
Upon whom do we need to allow a little of our attention and care to rain?
Lord, I don’t like wasting my time and effort on people and situations that appear unproductive. Why should I spend time with a troublesome employee? Why should I further commit myself to my spouse when the relationship seems to be going nowhere? Why should I work hard for a boss who does not give me the credit or the compensation I deserve? Lord, help me grasp the truth that You do more than hold out hope for those who fall short of Your glory. You give everyone exactly what they need to grow and mature into good, faithful, compassionate people. Please help me to do the same. In Your name, I pray. AMEN.