But God, It’s Not Fair

“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” — Matthew 20:13-16 (NIV)

“But God WHY? It’s not FAIR!”

We have all been there.

You may have had your heart set on something. Something that definitely didn’t happen. Something you had prayed for, hoped for, and fully convinced yourself would be good for you. Not just good—obvious. Logical. The kind of thing that made so much sense that you were already thanking God for it before it happened.

Then it didn’t happen.

Chances are you’ve got your own version of this story. The promotion that went to someone else. The relationship that never materialized. The opportunity that seemed perfect. The prayer you’ve prayed so many times you could recite it in your sleep.

And maybe, if you’re honest, you’ve watched someone else receive the very thing you wanted.

That’s where the parable in Matthew 20:1-16 starts feeling uncomfortably personal.

Jesus tells a story about a landowner who goes out early in the morning and hires workers for his vineyard. He promises them one denarius—a fair day’s wage—and sends them into the field.

The harvest is ripe and there’s plenty of work to do, so throughout the day the landowner keeps returning to the marketplace looking for more laborers. At noon. At three o’clock. Even at five o’clock, with only one hour left before quitting time, he finds men still standing there.

Maybe they had arrived late. Maybe they had been overlooked. Maybe they had been rejected by everyone else. Whatever the reason, nobody had chosen them.

Until this landowner did.

He welcomed them into his field, gave them work, and at the end of the day (an hour later) paid them the exact same wage as the workers who had been there since sunrise.

Naturally, the early workers were furious.

They had sweated through the heat of the day. They had done the heavy lifting. They had put in the hours. Surely they deserved more.

They began to grumble.

And honestly? We probably would too. I know I would. Some of us would like run straight to Facebook, Instagram, or any friend who would answer to spread the word about this absolute injustice and feel validated in our uproar.

Because the truth is, we don’t just struggle when we don’t get what we want. Sometimes we struggle when someone else gets what we want.

We watch someone come to Christ after decades of rebellion and receive the same grace we’ve spent years trying to walk in. We see someone else’s ministry flourish. Someone else’s prayers answered. Someone else’s dreams fulfilled. Someone else’s blessing arrive while we’re still waiting. Someone else get the job, get married, have children, buy a new car, get a promotion, etc.

And suddenly we find ourselves questioning God’s management of His own vineyard. We grumble and complain because we don’t believe they deserve whatever they have been given.

The landowner’s response is both gentle and devastating:

“Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius?” (Matthew 20:13)

In other words:

I kept every promise I made to you.

The workers weren’t upset because they had been treated unfairly. They were upset because someone else had been treated generously.

And isn’t that often our problem?

We confuse God’s generosity toward others with injustice toward ourselves.

The workers received exactly what was promised. The issue wasn’t their wage. The issue was their comparison.

Matthew tells us, “They thought they would receive more” (Matthew 20:10).

There’s the problem. Not that they were cheated. But that they expected more than they were promised.

How often do we do the same thing with God?

We begin with gratitude for what He’s promised, but somewhere along the way we start believing we’re owed extra.

I’ve served longer, I’ve worked harder, I’ve read my Bible more, I’ve been faithful, I’ve stayed, I’ve sacrificed, I’ve waited.

Surely I deserve more.

But that’s pride talking. Because at the end of the day, none of us deserve any of it.

Everything we have—including the breath in our lungs, the blood pumping through our veins, and the salvation purchased by Christ—is a gift we did not earn.

God owes us nothing. Yet He gives abundantly.

This parable isn’t primarily about the workers. It’s about the landowner. It’s about a God who is free to lavish mercy on whomever He chooses. A God whose kingdom operates differently than ours.

An upside-down kingdom where the last are first and the first are last (Matthew 20:16). A kingdom where the humble inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). A kingdom where grace is given freely, not earned through seniority.

The five o’clock workers understood something the early workers forgot. They were just grateful to be chosen. When the landowner found them, they weren’t demanding better opportunities. They weren’t arguing their qualifications. They were simply thankful that someone wanted them in the field. And then they received far more than they expected.

Maybe that’s where Jesus wants us today. Not standing with the grumbling workers, calculating who deserves what. But standing with the five o’clock crew, amazed that the King chose us at all.

So let me ask you:

Are you grumbling over the Landowner’s decisions? Are you measuring God’s goodness by what someone else received? Are you resentful of blessings you’ve decided another person doesn’t deserve?

Or are you grateful for the mercy you’ve been given?

Because the reality is that every one of us is living on undeserved grace.

And if God chooses to be generous to someone else, that doesn’t diminish His generosity toward us.

It simply reveals how good He really is.

bytaylormcgee