Which is it?

During our last softball game on Sunday, I slightly sprained my ankle. Oh, was it humiliating! You see, fly balls are not my speciality. Not by far. In fact, during our first game (we had two), I called a ball that landed three feet behind me while I stood there with my arm raised and ready. I didn't even adjust my stance. So, when I actually caught a fly ball in the second game, I was extremely excited. I could hardly believe the ball landed in my glove. My pride swelled so that I did a happy hop and well...came down wrong on my ankle. Thus, the sprain. Once my teammates got me to the dugout, I had both my ankle and pride to mend. I said the sprain was due to Karma. I shouldn't have happy hopped. Now, was it really? I doubt it, but the idea got me thinking...
Our Bible Study went over Galatians 6 the very next day. Guess what verses 7 and 8 say? "Don't be misled--you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit." Huh. So does the Bible support Karma?

I looked up Karma. It's a fundamental Buddhist belief. It is one of several things that determine everything that happens. As it were, the differences between the rich and the poor, the ugly and the beautiful, the intelligent and the stupid, the talented and the untalented are due to past and present actions. In other words, we determine our own destiny.
Obviously, Buddhism isn't the Truth. Yet, Galatians seems to agree...

However, the Word has truth for the other side of the coin too. Jesus was confronted with this concept in John 9. His disciples asked if a blind man was blind due to his or his parents' sins. Jesus said no to both. The reason he was blind was so God's glory could shine. Likewise, Job wasn't being punished for sins like his friends thought. His faith was being tested. Also, Psalms 73 depressingly states that many times the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer.

On the other hand (again), 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, "For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good and evil we have done in this earthly body."

YET, still on the other hand, we receive our salvation not because we deserve it but because of the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). We can't earn favor with God.

My head is spinning! Which is true??

Sometimes, God seems to contradict himself. Sometimes I forget that, in God, there is room for all truth. It's not necessarily one or the other. For example, free will verses predestination. Bible supports both. Which is true? Both. The whole truth falls somewhere in both truths, somewhere our human minds cannot go. We may never fully understand.
This is my brain's attempt to fathom the unfathomable:
Do we reap what we sow? Yes, it's called consequences. Do we receive undeserved grace through Christ's blood? Yes, no one can earn salvation through their own merit. Do good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people? Yes, but God has his reasons, which are just. Will God judge us all according to what we do? Yes, but since Jesus already took our punishment for sin, believers escape eternal fire, even though we deserve it.

So, did I earn my sprained ankle? Only God really knows. Regardless, "God works all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)" My job is to trust in the sovereignty of God, to learn from any lesson he gives, to repent of my sins, to be thankful always, and to walk in the Spirit.