Getting Personal with My Creator – Part 2

 

Is God guilty of something?  Should I even speak such a thing about God?

There is no one on this Earth and throughout time that has not in some way been hurt, frustrated, betrayed, or disappointed.  And when any of these things have taken hold of us and we are unable to surmise a justifiable reasoning, it is easy to place the blame on God.  He is our Creator after all.  In fact, He is the Creator of all things.  By association, then, we cast fault to Him when we walk through these seasons of life.

In his book, Totally Forgiving God, R.T. Kendall says, “The ability to forgive God comes down mainly to one thing: understanding the God of the Bible and His Ways.  The key to forgiving God is knowing His ways – and accepting them.”[1]

If we are honest with ourselves, we can get to a place where we know that God didn’t do these things to us.  Furthermore, it is easy to suggest God allowed it, but that would mean that He in some way influenced or manipulated the situation.  In reality, most times that isn’t the case either.  It simply is the byproduct of a corrupt and contaminated world.  The truth is that God is aware of it, but He did not necessarily allow it to happen to you.  God never loses track of what is going on and He never ever abandons us.  We have to remember that He does not think and act as we do.  We cannot presume to understand all that God does or doesn’t do.  And most importantly, God does not make mistakes.

That all being said, now what do I do?  All of the aforementioned information is truth I have known and understood for all of my ministerial service and walk with Jesus Christ.  But I am still working through the anger.  I know God didn’t give my mother cancer.  I know He didn’t take her from me.  It is human nature to need to place blame on a person rather than a thing because we want to hold someone accountable.  There is no person to blame.  Even though I know I can’t blame God, without someone else to blame, to whom do I place it?  The flesh always wants to default to God the Creator.  So, you might be surprised how I answer this question.  The answer is . . . default to God.  That’s right, go ahead and give the blame of whatever it is that has caused your anger to God.

In the same way I am saying these words to you, God has been saying them to me.  The Apostle Paul, in his second letter to the church in Corinth, says in chapter 5, verse 20, “Be reconciled to God.”  Most applications presented and preached about concerning this verse are talking about the confession of and repentance from sin we own in order to be found blameless.  There is another application that often gets overlooked.  Rather, it is the same but different.  The offense or frustration or whatever the cause of anger is in essence sin, at least from our perspective.  We don’t own that sin, but it is sin that has affected us none the less.   Furthermore, sin is often defined as that which separates us from God or causes us to be turned away from Him.  I know for myself my anger has created a chasm of sorts between God and me.  By that understanding, the events creating my anger and the anger itself, though God is not guilty of either, are sin that needs to be reconciled.  According to verse 20, I need to give this anger to God.

How do I do this?  Verse 21 continues with “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  Jesus Christ is “him” being described in the verse.  If my anger and the cause of my anger is serving as sin, an obstacle between me and God, then I need to place it on Christ.  Even though he did not do anything, Jesus will take it and own it . . . for me.  Why?  The same reason he died for the sin we rightfully did own, so we can have life and be reconciled with God.

God does not want me to carry this burden any longer.  He wants me to satisfy my need to hold someone accountable by placing it on him so I can be free from it and receive peace and healing.  So, can I forgive God?  Yes, yes, I can.  Forgiveness is not for the one who takes the blame; it is for the one who is offended, the one who is hurting.  R.T. Kendall wrote in another of his books, “The greater the hurt, the greater the blessing that will come with forgiveness.”[2]  I believe it. I look forward to the great blessings to come as I heal from this great pain I’ve been walking through.

Let me finish with this thought.  The passing of loved ones is not a new experience for me.  My beliefs concerning death and eternity are and have been steadfast.  Finding myself to be angry with God, that is what caught me off guard.  I didn’t see it coming.  When the Lord brought this to my attention, I was almost in denial.  But I had to be honest with myself, there was something getting between me and God.  And I didn’t want that anymore.  What I am experiencing is yet another profound and overwhelming expression of God’s love for me.  He cares how I feel.  He is concerned about our relationship.  He is healing my heart.

 

 

 

 

 

                  [1] R.T. Kendall, Totally Forgiving God: When It Seems He Has Betrayed You (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2012), p. 5.

                  [2] R.T. Kendall, Total Forgiveness (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2002), p. 154.