Job said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God~ Job 1:21-22 NASB

Recently, I have felt as if I might be stuck in a weird version of the movie Groundhog Day. I have had numerous conversations with all sorts of different people who all have vastly different stories but the exact same problem. At the root of all the stories is always a situation we all experience at some point in our journey through life. The details of the individual stories differ but at the root of problem is always a terrible or unjust situation completely outside of the person’s ability to control.

 Sometimes the person is born into said situation.

 One of the sadder consequences of living in a fallen world is the untold number of children who (through no fault of their own) lose the parental lottery at conception. Those children are born to immoral, selfish or sometimes even sadistic parents. The psychological fallout of being born to selfish or cruel parents is experienced well into adulthood.

 Other times the situation manifests later in life.

 A spouse we assumed would be loyal chooses not to be.  A person we care deeply about becomes the random target of senseless violence. A friend who claimed to be a Christian does something Christians just don’t do. The child we raised right goes terribly wrong. A boss or colleague takes credit for our hard work. We become the victims of injustice, bigotry or prejudice. A loved one dies long before we think it’s time. Someone we loved and trusted tells a terrible lie and our reputation takes a hit.

Sigh.

 Whatever the details might be, the problem always begins the same way: we are wronged or cheated in some profoundly unpleasant and unfair way. Hurt and anger follow, anger takes root and we do what humans do when we get angry about things that are unjust, unreasonable and completely outside of our control.

Then we blame God for things He had nothing to do with.

 We blame God because blaming God gives us an outlet for our rage and  it makes us feel better, at least temporally. That being said, blaming God for things He had nothing to with actually compounds our problems rather than solving them.

 I am convinced anger is not a “bad” or a “sinful” emotion. There is such a thing as righteous and even healthy anger (Matthew 21:12-13, Ephesians 4:26). Some things that happen in this world are horrible. Horrible things ought to make us angry. If  horrible things don’t make us angry it’s a sign something is terribly wrong with us.

That said.

Anger directed at God—rather than at the injustice that was suffered— always causes us to act out in sinful, inappropriate, and astonishingly self-destructive ways. Sometimes we indiscriminately vent our wrath on undeserving people or hurt others in the same way we were hurt. Other times we choose to abuse alcohol, engage in sinful sexual behaviors or use drugs in a misguided attempt to numb the pain and forget the hurt.

Sigh.                                                                                                          

 We blame God for the actions of people because we have a fundamental misunderstanding of God, human sovereignty and how God relates to His creation. God creates every person with the capacity to do good things with the gift of life given to them. However.  God does not force anyone to do anything good or bad. God is not a creepy puppet master who forces people to “be good”, obey His commands or do His bidding. God gave humanity freewill and we are able to use that freedom in anyway we choose.

 Most of us are comfortable with this arrangement so long as it applies to our own personal choices. However, when individuals use their freewill in a way that hurts others sometimes we become outraged with God, the one being in all of existence that is the most brokenhearted by the depravity and ugliness of a good deal of human choices.

 It is critical to our emotional and spiritual health we remember that we remind ourselves when we have been hurt by someone else’s sin that God does not cause people to do cruel, insensitive or evil things. Nor does He endorse, condone or excuse bad behavior. God hates evil. However, just because God allows something to take place it does not mean that anyone is actually getting away with anything (Hebrews 4:13, Matthew 18:6, 2nd Peter 2:4-10).

 God promises in His word that there will come a day when every human being who has ever lived will be judged for what they did and didn’t do here on earth (Revelation 20:11-15). It is imperative we remember that NOTHING goes unnoticed by God and every deed, thought and motivation will ultimately come under His judgment (Hebrews 4:12-13).

 Until that day dawns, it is imperative to our spiritual and mental we go to God with our pain, rather than blaming Him for it. Blaming God for stuff He had nothing to do with inevitably leads to shutting the door on the only one in all the universe who can give us the comfort, peace and healing we really need to move on.