yet their heart rages against the LORD.
(Proverbs 19:3)
Oh, how many times I have been guilty of this. How many times has my heart cried out in anger, "Why did you let this happen to me Lord!? Why didn't you warn me!? Why didn't you remind me!? Why didn't you help me!? How could you do this to me!?" In reality, I know it was my own fault. I know I made a bad choice. I know I failed to remember some important detail, yet I want to blame God. So, my heart rages.
Chances are you do the same, because this is nothing less than the scene from the Garden of Eden played out again and again in our lives. Like Adam and Eve, we want to shift blame from ourselves to someone else, and when no one else is there to take the blame, we shift it onto God. The truth is...God is not to blame. We are. We are the ones that chose to lie, or to betray, or to put off our responsibilities. We are the ones who allowed our arrogance to drive our friends away. We chose laziness over hard work and yet don't understand why God hasn't given us the success that others have. We have run after the world's way of living instead of God's way.
Galatians 6 tells us that there are consequences for our decisions. We reap what we sow. When we sow to the flesh, we reap a harvest of destruction. In essence, this proverb says that when the harvest comes in rotten we shouldn't blame God, but rather should blame the bad seeds of our own behavior that we chose to plant in our life. Even for believers, this rings true. Though our eternal punishment has been covered at the cross, God still disciplines us in Fatherly love here on earth. All of us must live with the consequences for our sin in this life. We dare not blame God for what we brought on ourselves.
Sometimes the most innocent among us suffer at the hands of someone else's sin though. There are those who have been molested or abused, or even the child who is born with deformities. There are some things in this world that happen to us that are not our fault. They do not happen because of our sin but as a result of the sins of others or even of sin in general. Yet, even in these circumstances we have no right to "rage against the Lord." As Job said, "Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?" (Job 2:10) God is God. He cannot now, nor has He ever sinned. These atrocities that happen to us are the result of man's sin, not God's. It isn't fair, and it isn't right. It causes us to long for Heaven where all things will be right. But in the meantime, God gives us reason to rejoice even in these circumstances for the Bible says that God "works all things together for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose."
So, let me ask you... What have you been holding against God that you have no right to blame Him for? What have you been blaming on God that you really need take responsibility for yourself? What angry thoughts, words, or actions towards God do you need to repent of today? May the Lord grant both of us more strength and grace to accept the consequences for our faults without blaming Him.
For further reading...
Chances are you do the same, because this is nothing less than the scene from the Garden of Eden played out again and again in our lives. Like Adam and Eve, we want to shift blame from ourselves to someone else, and when no one else is there to take the blame, we shift it onto God. The truth is...God is not to blame. We are. We are the ones that chose to lie, or to betray, or to put off our responsibilities. We are the ones who allowed our arrogance to drive our friends away. We chose laziness over hard work and yet don't understand why God hasn't given us the success that others have. We have run after the world's way of living instead of God's way.
Galatians 6 tells us that there are consequences for our decisions. We reap what we sow. When we sow to the flesh, we reap a harvest of destruction. In essence, this proverb says that when the harvest comes in rotten we shouldn't blame God, but rather should blame the bad seeds of our own behavior that we chose to plant in our life. Even for believers, this rings true. Though our eternal punishment has been covered at the cross, God still disciplines us in Fatherly love here on earth. All of us must live with the consequences for our sin in this life. We dare not blame God for what we brought on ourselves.
Sometimes the most innocent among us suffer at the hands of someone else's sin though. There are those who have been molested or abused, or even the child who is born with deformities. There are some things in this world that happen to us that are not our fault. They do not happen because of our sin but as a result of the sins of others or even of sin in general. Yet, even in these circumstances we have no right to "rage against the Lord." As Job said, "Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?" (Job 2:10) God is God. He cannot now, nor has He ever sinned. These atrocities that happen to us are the result of man's sin, not God's. It isn't fair, and it isn't right. It causes us to long for Heaven where all things will be right. But in the meantime, God gives us reason to rejoice even in these circumstances for the Bible says that God "works all things together for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose."
So, let me ask you... What have you been holding against God that you have no right to blame Him for? What have you been blaming on God that you really need take responsibility for yourself? What angry thoughts, words, or actions towards God do you need to repent of today? May the Lord grant both of us more strength and grace to accept the consequences for our faults without blaming Him.
For further reading...
- Genesis 3 (especially verses 8-13)- Check out how Adam and Eve tried to push blame off themselves and onto someone else.
- Galatians 6:1-7 & Romans 6:23- The Bible clearly teaches that there are consequences for our sin.
- Job 1-2:10- There is no doubt that God could have stopped the trouble that came upon Job, yet Job chooses not to "rage against" Him.
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