The world has become a challenging place to live, and if you ask some people, it is going to be that way for a while. I don’t know how true that is, but our current reality sure seems to be pretty bleak at times.
When we look at our reality, we want to assign blame. We want to know how this all happened. How did we get here? Who is to blame for all of this?
It is in the midst of tragedy that the first person to get blamed is God. Have you had any of these questions come into your mind lately?
“Doesn’t God have the power to unite us?”
“Doesn’t God have the power to fix our problems?”
“Doesn’t God have the power to eliminate a virus?”
“Doesn’t God have the power to give me what I want and need?”
The answer to all of these questions is, “YES!”
Even the author of Lamentations, when considering the tragedy he was seeing all around him, puts the blame on God.
And you passersby, look at me! Have you ever seen anything like this? Ever seen pain like my pain, seen what he did to me, what God did to me in his rage? Lamentations 1:12 (MSG)
In the author’s mind, God is to blame for the pain he and the people are suffering. It is God’s anger toward them that has caused all the troubles.
And if you are feeling that God is to blame for the losses you have experienced in your life I want you to know that it’s okay for you to feel that way.
In fact, I would say that it makes complete sense for you to feel that way. Everything that we have said about God’s abilities and powers are true. God can fix it all. He has that power. But for some reason he doesn’t. And the challenge is to try and understand why he doesn’t.
Blaming God for your pain is normal. It is part of the process of understanding and healing, and God doesn’t condemn you for doing it.
It may be hard to hear this right now, but God is a god of love, and he doesn’t stop loving you because you are mad at him or blame him for your pain.
Those of you who have children will understand this reality.
How many times do you cause your children to feel frustration and pain? Many. And your children get angry at you because they see you as the source of their losses. And they may give you the silent treatment, or say something disrespectful to you as an expression of their anger.
And depending on how far they take it, you may ignore it or take other actions. But one thing you never do is stop loving them. You can’t. It’s who you are. You are a loving parent.
And God is no different. Your frustration with him doesn’t block his love for you.
So go ahead and tell God about your frustration. Go ahead and register your complaint. God is ready to listen and to act on behalf of his children.
Do you need to vent some of your frustrations? I am here to listen. Email me at milton@ktsy.org
Photo by Vickie Intili from Pexels
If you would like to explore this topic more, click on the video below to hear Chaplain Milton’s message “Embrace the Tears: Suffering Losses”.