Stop Blaming God
It seems to me we’re always blaming God for whatever is going wrong in our lives. We’re not very quick to praise Him during happier, more successful times but He’s always getting the rap for the bad times.
A while back, I was having a conversation with a man who had lost his job. To that point, he’d had a very successful career making hundreds of thousands a year with the fancy house, expensive luxury automobiles and all the finer things in life.
He lost all of that along with the fact his wife and children moved out as well. He was now living alone with a roommate desperately trying to save his life and his house.
He looked at the cross on my vest and stated “Yeah, like He’s been a lot of help!” He just couldn’t believe God let this happen to him and his family. Naturally, my Pastor defenses went up.
I asked him “When was the last time you thanked Him for all that you did have?” To which he responded “oh hell, I don’t remember.” …which reminded me of a verse from…
Proverbs 19:3 – “A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord.”
So here I am, stuck with someone harping and complaining about my God yet I, due to my obligations to Him, have to sit and listen to this bantering.
He asked me to say a prayer for him. I said, “better yet, I’ll say a prayer with you!”
He had been out of work for about nine months and we apologize to God for his lack of appreciation and asked for His forgiveness and then asked if He could possibly help my new-found friend out.
Well, certainly my topic for the week had been chosen so let’s talk a little bit about blame.
God Tempts No One
All too often when we feel “temped,” we turn our sights on God. We ask Him “Why have you put this before me? What have I done to offend you? Why are you testing me all the time?”
While these are typical questions from non-believers we, as children of God, should always remember what the Bible tells us about temptation…
James 1:13-14 – “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.”
I can assure you my Brothers and Sisters, it isn’t God doing the tempting. It is more often than not that we’ve introduced ourselves into a situation where evil, the Devil himself, is allowed to interfere with our good intentions.
My earnest suggestion here is, when you feel tempted, pray to our Lord and ask Him to help you put this temptation behind you or “take it away from me Lord!”
Remember Free Will
It is also important to remember, as we’ve spoken about before here at church, God allows us to make our own decisions. He lets us choose for ourselves and trusts us to make the right decisions. After all, we are here to rule over the “lesser creatures” as told to us in…
Genesis 1:26 – “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’”
God gave us power over these “lesser creatures” of this world, our own independence so we might thrive and prosper through our life here on Earth. Perhaps we have over-used this entitlement? And when we DO make these bad choices he reminds us…
Isaiah 48:18 – “If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea.”
Doesn’t that sound like your Mom or Dad when you were growing up? It’s almost like saying “See, I told you so… you should have listened to me!” Well it should… after all He is our Father in Heaven.
Blame Ourselves, For We Have Sinned
We really need to remember we have, more than likely, brought these bad things upon ourselves. We have placed ourselves in certain positions to allow temptation to pick at our hearts; to lure our souls into wrong-doings; and to disappoint God…
James 1:14-15 – “but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
We bring most of our problems upon ourselves. Now, it’s time to ask for God’s forgiveness, recognizing our wrongs, and beg of His help and forgiveness to move past these things.
Recognize Sources of Temptation
We need to realize who, what, where and when can we expect temptations. Understand our own weaknesses and avoid any situation where we would displease our Lord.
The Bible tells us this repeatedly…
1 Corinthians 15:33 – “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’”
Why should we recognize? As again the Bible tells us…
2 Corinthians 2:11 – “in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”
Good News, We Are Forgiven
As many times as we have sinned, our Lord as forgiven us. He has never turned His back on us or ignored our pleas for forgiveness. It is for this reason, we need to recognize our yielding into temptation and ask God for His to forgive us once more….
1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
And what about others?
He will forgive us just as it is written in the Bible we should forgive others that have sinned against us…
Colossians 3:13 – “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Now, on a side note, I saw the man I had prayed with again recently. Nine days after we had prayed together, he found a job. Nine days after that, his wife and children came back home.
Had God forgiven this man and fulfilled his prayer… you answer yourself on that one.
In Closing – Stop blaming God for our downfalls; remember free will; recognize our own faults and blame ourselves; ask for His forgiveness, forgiving others as well; and remember… we are forgiven!
Go with God and thank Him every day for all that you DO have; be good to one another; always stay humble and kind… God Bless!