When we see countless suffering going on around us with no
apparent relief, we sometimes question where God is. If He is such a good and
loving God, why do people have to suffer so much? Why do innocent children get
abused and innocent people get shot, stabbed, robbed or hit by drunk drivers
and God does absolutely nothing to stop these things? Why did I have to grow up
in an abusive home where I felt unwanted and unloved by my parents? Why did the
husband I loved with all my heart have to cheat on me, only to leave me and the
kids? Why do I have to work so much harder than everyone else, only to continue
to have to struggle uphill both ways?
I have heard these questions posed by several people, just in
the last year. These same people then say, “Well if God is like that, then I don’t
want him.” If truth be told, I myself have asked these very same questions. The
only difference is that I have chosen to STILL trust Him and STILL follow Him,
no matter what.
I think if you are honest too, you would say that you have
also been angry at God at one time or another. I think it is human nature to be
angry when we do not understand why something bad happens and God seems to be
nowhere in the midst of it. The important thing is that we get past that anger and get to a place where
we can continue to trust God, no matter what. We need to work through that
anger, even if it takes getting it all out of our system first. God is big.
Actually, he is HUGE! He knows our hearts and what makes us hurt, what makes us
tick and the fact that our minds are far too finite to sometimes comprehend the
whys of life.
I have wrestled with God and I have been angry with God. I
have felt at times that God did not love me and even caused some of the bad
things to happen to me that I have been through. Again, the important thing was
that I prayed through those periods and once again, came back to a place of
complete faith and trust in Him. I had to make a full circle, realizing that
God was on my side and He was never going to leave me in the middle of my
doubts, fear, hurt and anger without bringing me back around to Him. Through the
years, this has become a much easier, shorter process.
Truth is, we just need reminding of God’s promises and who
He is. Nowhere does the Bible say that we will not have struggles and hardships
in this life. God does promise us in His Word, however, that He will never
leave or forsake us, that He is fighting for us (the battle is not ours to
fight alone), that He is faithful and good and perfect in all of his ways. The
23rd Psalm tells us that, “Even
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no
evil, for You are (He is) with me…”
Through the bad things I have experienced in life, I have always seen small glimpses of God’s
goodness, usually on the back end. I can always see how He got me through that
particular difficulty and brought me through stronger than I was before. I can
see how good things have come out of those situations when I calmed down, went
to prayer and asked God to help me make sense of what happened. He has always
given me deep down peace and joy through the situation, even if He did not
ever reveal to me why this happened.
The easiest thing to do when faced with something tragic or
when things continuously blow up in our face and leave us feeling defeated in a
pile of ashes is to give up and turn away from God, shaking our fist at Him and
saying, “Well, if that is how You are, then I don’t need or want You in my
life!” I have learned through 45 years of life experience that the easy way is
NEVER the best way. When something has to be fought for, it is well worth the
fight!
A relationship with our creator is the most important,
priceless treasure that all the money in the world could never buy! The more
difficulties we have to face, the more precious this relationship becomes!
Although I admit I have been angry at God, I worked through it, confessed my
anger and asked for His grace to help me get through it. I realize every single
day that I need Him in my life just to make it another day, month or year and without
Him, life is very hopeless.
If you are at that point right now where you are angry at
God and about to give up on Him, remember that he will never give up on you! He loves you and wants to help you. He wants
you to be honest with Him about how you feel (He knows exactly how you feel
anyway, even more so than you even know)! You are at a crossroads at this point…you
can walk away for eternity in anger or you can move past your anger and ask Him
to help you trust Him more in the midst of the terrible things that happen to
you or in the world around you.
I personally make it a point to spend time meditating and
praying about the difficulty I am facing or have recently faced and finding the
small glimpses of anything good, no matter how small, and thanking God for
that, realizing that He will make beauty from the ashes of this mess too. After
all, He is still faithful and He is still good!
The bad things on earth are temporary. This is not our permanent
home and before we know it, life will be over and eternity will await us. Where
we spend it depends on what we did with this life and who we trusted in the
midst of all the bad.
"Struck Down, But Not Destroyed" by Marie Rose (available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble & WestBow press, a division of Thomas Nelson, Zondervan)
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