The names in this true story have been changed.

When someone’s poor choices eventually lead to painful consequences, people often say, “Karma caught up with him.” When kindness appears to be rewarded, they may say the same thing. But is that how God works—or is there an important difference between karma and sowing and reaping?

Marie’s former husband, Don, was ten years older than she was. When Don was sixty-seven, he left Marie for a woman twenty years his junior. She, in turn, left her husband to be with Don.

Don and his new companion seemed perfectly suited to one another. They both embraced a sexually promiscuous lifestyle that included multiple partners. Eventually, they married and moved several states away.

In doing so, Don left behind his grown children from a previous marriage. He also left his elderly mother, who was living in an assisted-living facility.

For a time, Don’s new life seemed to be everything he wanted. His wife enjoyed a successful career in the medical field, and together they lived comfortably in an upper-middle-class home with two sports cars in the garage.

From all outward appearances, life was good.

The Woman Who Stayed Behind

Several years after the divorce, Marie learned that her former mother-in-law’s health was declining. Don had moved away, and neither he nor his children maintained much contact with her.

Marie could easily have concluded that this was no longer her responsibility. After all, the woman’s son had ended their marriage and moved on with his life.

But Marie did not turn away.

Every other weekend, she made the hour-long drive to visit her former mother-in-law. She helped sort through the mail, pay bills, run errands, and attend to the ordinary needs that can become overwhelming for an elderly person living alone.

Marie received no apparent benefit from doing this. She simply saw someone in need and chose to help.

Eventually, her former mother-in-law passed away. Marie quietly continued with her life, while Don returned home to settle the estate and collect his inheritance.

Time Marches On

Marie’s New Life of Faith, Love, and Companionship

Years later, Marie met and married a loving and caring man. Today they are active in their local church, enjoy traveling, play pickleball and golf, and share a happy life in an active-adult community.

Life is good for Marie.

Don’s life took a very different turn.

After he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, his younger wife apparently decided that caring for a husband with a serious illness was not the life she wanted. She found a younger man and sent Don packing.

Don returned to his former state and now lives a lonely life in a one-bedroom condominium. One of his adult children checks on him occasionally, but much of the life he once knew is gone.

A secular observer might say, “Karma finally caught up with him.”

Marie showed compassion and eventually received a happy life. Don betrayed his wife, neglected his mother, and was later betrayed and abandoned himself. Each one, it might appear, received exactly what he or she deserved.

But is that really how God works?

Karma or Sowing and Reaping: What Is the Difference?

Karma comes from Eastern religions and generally describes an impersonal law of cause and effect: good actions eventually produce good results, while bad actions eventually bring suffering—whether in this life or a future one.

Christianity teaches something very different.

The Bible does teach that our choices have consequences:

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”—Galatians 6:7

But sowing and reaping is not “karma” with a Christian label.

Karma describes an impersonal spiritual mechanism. The Bible reveals a personal and sovereign God who acts according to His perfect wisdom, justice, mercy, and grace. God is not a cosmic scorekeeper mechanically distributing comfort to good people and suffering to bad people.

If He were, none of us would be safe.

So did Don reap what he sowed?

In one important sense, he did.

Don made a series of choices. He broke his marriage vows, pursued a self-indulgent lifestyle, moved away from his family, and neglected important relationships. Those choices gradually shaped both his character and his circumstances.

That does not prove God gave Don multiple sclerosis as punishment. Scripture does not permit us to look at every illness and declare that God is punishing a particular sin. When Jesus’ disciples encountered a man who had been blind since birth, they asked whose sin had caused his blindness. Jesus rejected their assumption that the illness could be explained so simply:

“It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”—John 9:3

We do not know why Don developed MS. We should be very careful about speaking where God has not spoken.

What we can say is that God allowed Don to make choices, and those choices carried consequences. Had Don remained faithful to his marriage vows, he might now have had Marie beside him—the same woman who so faithfully cared for his elderly mother even after she was no longer obligated to do so.

Don’s disease may not have been the consequence of his choices, but his loneliness appears to be.

Did God Punish Don?

We cannot answer that question with certainty.

The Bible teaches that God sometimes disciplines, corrects, and even judges people. It also teaches that suffering can occur for reasons that have nothing to do with punishment for a particular sin.

Job suffered terribly, even though his suffering was not punishment for some hidden wickedness. Paul endured hardship while faithfully serving Christ. The man born blind had not caused his condition through personal sin.

Therefore, we should never assume that illness, disability, financial hardship, or tragedy proves that someone is under God’s judgment. Nor should we assume that health, wealth, and comfort prove that someone has God’s approval.

Don’s circumstances should not cause us to celebrate his downfall. They should move us to pray for him.

Perhaps this season of loneliness will awaken him to his need for God. Many people do not look upward until everything they have been leaning upon collapses beneath them. Sometimes it takes reaching rock bottom before a person realizes that following his own desires has not produced the freedom he expected.

We can pray that Don will turn toward God, repent of his sins, and receive the grace and redemption offered through Jesus Christ. His present suffering does not place him beyond God’s mercy.

As long as Don lives, his story is not finished and there is always hope he will be saved before discovering the real cost of darkness on the other side.

Was Marie Rewarded?

Now we must ask the same question about Marie.

Did God reward her with a loving husband and a happy life because she cared for her former mother-in-law?

That question is just as difficult to answer.

Marie’s kindness was genuine and admirable. She cared for someone who could no longer offer her anything in return. Her conduct reflected the kind of mercy and selflessness God desires from His children.

But Marie, like every one of us, is also a sinner in need of grace. Her kindness did not place God in her debt. God did not owe her a happy second marriage because she performed a good deed.

Marie has since turned toward God and accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Yet becoming a believer does not guarantee a comfortable life. Many faithful Christians endure illness, grief, poverty, persecution, and painful disappointment.

If earthly comfort were God’s guaranteed reward for faithfulness, the apostles would have lived in luxury rather than experiencing imprisonment, rejection, persecution, and death.

Marie’s present happiness may indeed be a gracious blessing from God, and she is right to receive it with gratitude. But it should not be interpreted as proof that good behavior always produces an easy life.

If we believe that, what will happen to our faith when hardship comes?

Nothing Happens Outside God’s Sovereignty

“Nothing happens without God’s permission” is my “go to” answer when I cannot understand why God has allowed something to occur.

That statement does not answer every question, but it reminds me who remains in control.

God has purposes we may not recognize in this life. Our responsibility is not always to understand what He is doing. Our responsibility is to trust Him, obey Him, and remain faithful to Him.

Paul learned to trust God in both abundance and need:

“I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”—Philippians 4:12–13

Paul was not saying that Christ would enable him to accomplish anything he desired. He was saying that Christ gave him the strength to remain faithful in whatever circumstances God allowed.

That is the lesson both prosperity and suffering must teach us.

Marie’s present happiness does not prove that God has rewarded every good deed. Don’s present suffering does not prove that God directly caused his illness as punishment. We see only a small portion of each person’s story. God sees it all.

What we can see is that choices matter. Sin damages people and relationships. Faithfulness, compassion, and obedience often produce fruit that extends far beyond the moment in which they are practiced.

But the Christian life is not an exchange in which we perform good deeds and God owes us earthly comfort.

Our greatest reward is not a comfortable home, an active lifestyle, or even a loving spouse. Our greatest reward is Christ Himself.

We do not know what lies ahead for Marie. Her life may continue peacefully, or she may eventually face trials she cannot presently imagine. But if she remains turned toward God, she will never face them alone.

Her joy does not have to depend upon whether life is easy or difficult. It rests in knowing that she belongs to Christ and that every earthly chapter—whether filled with pleasure or pain—is leading toward eternity in His presence.

That Is Not Karma—That Is Grace

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