God understands our anger, and when we pray, it’s a good thing to tell Him what we honestly feel. But sustained bitterness toward the Lord who loves us is irrational and unwise.
Don’t Blame God. By David Jeremiah
Author John Killinger tells about the manager of a minor league baseball team who got so frustrated with his center fielder’s performance that he jerked him out of the game and played the position himself.
The first hard-hit ball that came to the manager took a bad hop and smashed into his mouth. His next play was a high fly ball that he lost in the sun—until it smacked him in the forehead.
The third ball that came his way was a hard line drive that flew between his hands and popped him in the eye.
Furious, he ran off the field to the dugout, grabbed the center fielder by the shirt and shouted, “You’ve got center field so messed up, even I can’t play it!”
God is the subject of more than His share of finger-pointing. As a matter of fact, a seventeen-year-old was accused of burning down a church in Nashville, Indiana.
At his trial, he explained that he took a cigarette lighter to the nearly century-old building because “I was angry with God.”
One woman, having lost both her husband and son in separate accidents, posted a notice on the Internet: “I am ANGRY at God. I am VERY ANGRY!” She dared to say out loud what you and I really feel sometimes.
God understands our anger, and when we pray, it’s a good thing to tell Him what we honestly feel. But sustained bitterness toward the Lord who loves us is irrational and unwise.
The Journal of Health Psychology reported an interesting study. Social psychologist Julie Juola-Exline and her team of researchers found a link between anger toward God, and anxiety and depression.
Those who couldn’t get beyond their resentment toward God were more likely to experience problems with negative emotions.
The good news, according to Juola-Exline, was that “those who were able to forgive God for a specific powerful incident, reported lower levels of anxiety and depression.”
“Forgiving God” is a term I would rather avoid. It implies that God has done something wrong that requires our pardon. We should underline the statement that by the perfection of His nature, He will not and cannot do wrong.
What seems like misdeed is mystery. The important thing to remember is that His love and compassion are perfect, unbroken, and forever.
Just the same, it’s all too easy to blame God for our losses and sorrows.