Wednesday, May 7, 2014

God


A friend I have known for most of my life was talking with me the other day and she posed a question. This question was of no normal fair for her voice and words were wrapped in deep heartache etched in loss and grief. As I listened closely to not only her words but her feelings, my heart ached for her....

"Why" she said " does God always say no to me?"

I knew much of her story well and what I didn't know came through in her pain. She had lost much, suffered much, and endured much.  And now she longed for answers. But I was puzzled. As I listened, she explained.

"God said no I couldn't keep my son, He said no I couldn't keep my husband. And then He said no to love,  health, and so much more! Why? Why does He always say no?"

My heart ached doubly now, not only for her but for God too.

As my heart ached I realized how many times I had heard sentiments like hers. People who felt angry, hurt, forsaken, or let down by a God they wanted to believe in. How many times have I  heard people saying  "God only gives you what you can handle." or "Well God's will be done."? Every time I hear these words in relationship to a sad or bad occurrence I cringe! And it leaves me wondering what Bible they read.

God doesn't take away our loved ones, or give us sickness. He doesn't stand around while we suffer, or dole out atrocities to see how we cope. He loves us and as a loving God only gives us good gifts. And while it is true that bad things happen to good people all the time and our world is often filled with evil and heartache, these are the result of choices made by us or others as humans, not by Him. And for some reason we like to blame Him! We get mad at God for the things that go wrong in this world. We blame Him for the pain and suffering in our lives and the lives of others we find blameless. And worse, we often cheer at the misfortune of those we don't like and nod our heads knowingly that God must have fixed them.

But God cries for it all. He cries when we cry and He hurts when we hurt. He feels our pain and sorrow and He can't wait for the day He can take us out of this mess and bring us home! He longs for your heart to be happy and for your soul to be filled with joyful song! He wants for us to flourish and thrive and forever in His love to abide! We each and every one have a perfect purpose to make this world a better place. To create love and joy. To spread His love to everyone! To live, and laugh, and love! And anytime that joy is stolen from us or ripped from our hearts, He cries and bleeds with us.

So why do we blame Him? Why do we turn on Him so quickly? Honestly, there is no good answer for this. Maybe because He is safe; we know no matter how much we turn on Him, He will be right there waiting when we need Him. Or maybe we really do not understand God and that He only gives us goodness and love. Regardless of the reasons, we bring God into, and blame Him for, so many things that have absolutely nothing to do with Him.

I like to share a story that I heard long ago that eloquently shows what we do and the ere of our ways.

There was a man and his wife who were happy and in love. But they had one problem. You see the husband was a good man and a hard worker but he worked in a place that was, well to be blunt, miserable. And no matter how hard he tried to please his bosses or do a great job, it never seemed to make a difference. Day in and day out he would come home discouraged or upset and he would tell his woes to his attentive wife. She felt awful for him and listened to his every complaint and problem and offered to help in anyway she could. With kindness and love she supported him and often asked what she might do to help. He would always thank her and acknowledge there wasn't much beyond the love and support she was giving that she could do. But nothing changed and the poor man continued to deal with work related issues. One day he came home particularly upset. He ranted and complained to his loving wife for quite some time. When he finished, his ever eager to help wife asked as usual if there was something she could do or what was he going to do. To her surprise he answered that he knew exactly what to do! He was going to divorce her!

You might be shaking your head or smiling at the ridiculousness of this story and the decision the man made. But isn't that what we often do to God?

God has nothing to do with the chaos and pain in this world. That all came about because of a choice made by a man and woman long ago. And every bad and evil thing that has happened since then has been a direct or indirect result of more and more bad choices we as a human race have made. God had nothing to do with any of it! In fact, if it weren't for Jesus coming to die and give us all the power of choice, we would be doomed to live this life and when it ended, it would truly be the end. Now because we can choose to have more, to live again, to have a do over, to live without the consequences of the poor and awful choices that have been made, we can choose to do better, live better, and be able to live happily and eternally as we were created and intended. But that was a gift. It was something given with no strings attached. What we do with that gift is still our choice. So don't throw it away!

Does God say no to our prayers and questions? At times, absolutely! But always when it is in your best interest. And He never ever gives us bad things or rips good things away from us.

So the next time your heart is sad or breaking please remember, His heart is breaking too. And when you are tempted to lash out in anger and turn your back on or "divorce" God, please remember the little story I shared. God isn't the problem, He loves you more then you could ever imagine, and He will never leave you or forsake you!

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