Has anyone ever blamed God or gotten mad at God for something that was kind of ridiculous? Maybe you didn't get a good grade on a test but you prayed really hard beforehand because you didn't study and now you're failing the class and of course, it’s God's fault because He didn't answer your prayer and pop all the answers into your head. Has anyone ever blamed God or gotten mad at God for something that was kind of ridiculous? Maybe you didn't get a good grade on a test but you prayed really hard beforehand because you didn't study and now you're failing the class and of course, it’s God's fault because He didn't answer your prayer and pop all the answers into your head. Maybe your girlfriend or your boyfriend broke up with you and now you are ticked off at God because he or she was the one. Never mind the fact that your relationship was all about what you could get off the other person. Never mind the fact that God wasn’t even a part of your relationship. It’s his fault. Maybe you got mad at God because you didn’t get that PlayStation 5 or that new Xbox. Maybe that sweet ride didn’t magically appear in your driveway on your 16th birthday and you are stuck riding your bike everywhere you go.
The big question for today: What do we do when we are angry with God?
What do we do when we feel like God hasn’t come through for us and we are hurt by him? Is He even the one we should be blaming? What do you tell your friend who is mad at God? Why do bad things happen to Christians if God loves us? Why is there evil in the world if God could make it all go away?
Let’s start by taking a deep breath and looking at this question logically. I’m going to give you guys 3 reasons that we experience pain and suffering in life. Here’s why bad things happen.
1. We Live in a Broken World.
The short answer: is sin. Pain and suffering are in our world because we sinned against God. In the beginning, everything was perfect. There was no pain or suffering or sickness or death but when Adam and Eve sinned all of God’s perfect creation was broken as a result.
We live in a world where there is cancer and leukemia and sickness. My goodness, our whole world was shut down for months because of a virus that spread from China and every one of our lives was affected as a result.
People die now because of the brokenness of our world. That is why the Bible talks about how all of the creation groans waiting for Jesus to return to make things right again. In heaven, there are no more natural disasters. In heaven, no one dies. We live forever with God and in heaven, there is no more sickness or pain or death.
The second reason we experience pain and suffering is because of
2. The Enemy
We forget that we are in a battle. We forget that we have an enemy. You see Satan rebelled against God and now he wants everyone to do the same. Satan hates your guts and he has come to steal, kill, and destroy your life. And the thing is, Satan is dang good at it. He has had thousands of years to practice deceiving people.
1 Peter 5:8 warns us to
"Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."
He will tempt you in the area of your greatest weakness and he will come at you again and again and again. Think about the pain and suffering that happens in our world because Satan is leading people to do the wrong thing.
The third reason we experience pain and suffering is because of...
3. The Choices We Make
Everyone has choices to make every single day. You have the choice to do drugs or to drink alcohol. You choose to look at those pictures or videos. You decide whether to tell the truth or tell a lie. You decide what your attitude will be like and how you will treat others.
And every time we choose the wrong way to go we hurt someone else.
● How many times have you hurt someone else with a choice that you made?
● How many times did you have the chance to help someone or serve someone and you ignored the opportunity?
● How many times could you have said a kind word or stuck up for someone who was getting bullied and you just couldn’t get the word to come out of your mouth?
● How many times have you lied or gossiped about someone else and as a result you hurt that person badly?
A lot of pain and suffering isn’t because God did something to you. It is because you did something to someone else or you did something to yourself. And let’s not forget the choices of other people that caused us pain and suffering.
If your parents got divorced or split up, God wept with you over their decision. The Bible says that God hates divorce. Do you know what the number 1 factor is in boys under 25 who commit suicide? The fact they grew up without a dad present.
If your parents have an addiction that controls their life and leaves your family in a dysfunctional mess, God hurts you. If someone has hurt you or wounded you or let you down understand God did not want that to happen to you but because God has given all people free choice, unfortunately, that means at times they can choose to hurt us. They chose to let you down. Let’s not blame God for the choices that other people make that hurt us.
Here’s the thing, knowing those things doesn’t make the pain and suffering any easier. If you have experienced pain or someone you know has experienced pain; it doesn’t help to make light of it. It doesn’t help to dismiss it. Pain needs to be acknowledged. I understand that people want to have a place to put the blame and let out their anger. However, being mad at God isn’t going to help.
We still have to go through it but here is the great news. You don’t have to go through it alone. We can take the feelings of anger and disappointment and we can take all that to God instead of taking it out on God.
So what do we do? After understanding where pain and suffering actually come from, how do we properly deal with that pain?
1. We need to be honest with God
God is not afraid of what we have to say. He knows what’s in our hearts anyways. So, let him know if you are mad, and let him know when you feel like He is not close. David, in the Bible, went through some really hard things. From having someone trying to kill him, to have to live in caves and be on the run for his life. Even when he was king, his own son tried to take the kingdom from him. I'm sure if anyone was mad at God at some point, it was David.
A significant portion of the Book of Psalms is David just being honest with God about how he felt. Read it some time and you will see that. David was being honest with God about how he felt. When we cry out and are honest with God, it actually draws us closer to him because we are opening our hearts. We are letting Him in.
What do you need to be honest with God about? Your parents’ divorce? The loss of someone you loved? That unspeakable thing that happened that caused you so much pain and hurt? Cry out to him, and let God know what you are going through.
God wants to be there for you. Look at what 1 Peter says,
1 Peter 5:7Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
God cares for you, even if it may not feel like it. I promise He does. So, we need to go to God and be honest with him.
The second thing we need to do to get over this anger we might have towards God is...
2. Go to the Bible
God gives us his word to teach us how to respond to these situations when we are hurting and even mad at God about things that have happened to us, we can remember that others have experienced this too. Look at the promises he has made us, look at the many times he delivered his people.
Joseph
Look at stories like Joseph and how he was sold into slavery by his family only to become the 2nd most powerful man in Egypt. Look at the statement that keeps coming up in that story “And the Lord was with Joseph.”
Shadrach
Look at the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and how they thought they were about to be burned to death just because they refused to bow to a false God. Look at how God was with them in the fire.
Paul
Read about Paul and Silas in jail. They were imprisoned because they were bold enough to share the message of Jesus. They started to pray and the chains just fell off and the doors just opened because God was with them.
All throughout the Bible, we see bad things happen to people who love God because of sin. But then we see how God is faithful and how He delivers his people. We see how God isn't the one who causes the hurt and pain but He is the one who will be with you through all of it.
3. Ask God to use what you have gone through to help someone else.
There are hurting people all around us that could use a friend and a listening ear. Be that person to them. Tell them how God carried you through what you faced and tell them about how God overwhelmed you with his presence. Tell them how he gave you the strength to make it through one day at a time.
You can’t go back and change the pain from the past. However, God can use what the devil intended for harm, for his good.
So, if you have been mad at God it’s time to let go of that. But when it comes to “forgiving” God. That’s not something we can actually do. God is good and holy. He is the standard of perfection. So, you can be mad at God, but you can’t forgive unless someone has done something wrong to you, which God has never done.
Whether you realize it or not, God has always been there for you. God is for you, not against you. God wants you to have life and have it be full. So if you have pushed God away, if you have held anger in your heart towards God, then today is the day for you to ask God for forgiveness. And here is the cool thing; when you go to God, he will draw near to you. He will give you the comfort and peace you need to get through the pain.
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