Do you ever feel like all of
the bad things happening in your life are God punishing you for past sins you
have committed?
I remember spending years
after my divorce thinking just that. I
was the one who left my marriage and the guilt I felt about that consumed me
for years. I was bitter. I was angry.
I was ashamed. I was lost.
I entered into a pattern of
self destruction making one bad decision after another. In all honesty, all I really wanted was to be
married again but I dated all the wrong men and ended up being heartbroken
again and again and again. Instead of
seeing my own hand in this, I chalked it up to “God is punishing me for
divorcing my husband.”
Wrong. God was not punishing me with this series of
heartbreaks. I was punishing me. The
consequences of my bad decisions…the consequences of my sins….were what was
punishing me and leaving me broken and devastated.
All the while, God was right
there, sitting quietly…gently inviting me into a closer relationship with Him…. gently inviting me to trust Him.
Oh I prayed and I cried and
I would have sworn to you that I WAS TRUSTING GOD AND HE WAS MAKING ME PAY FOR
MY MISTAKES!!!! But it was simply not
true. What was really going on is that I
was doing all of the talking. I was not
listening. I was not being still. I was not seeking Him and His will. I was instead trying to drive home MY will.
Once I finally stopped to
listen…once I finally started to seek answers in His Word (the bible)… once I
finally started trying to follow His rules for my life…once I finally KNEW what
God wanted from me (instead of simply what I wanted from Him)…and once I
finally accepted His grace, His forgiveness….well, that is the day my life
changed forever.
The bottom line is we all
mess up. Most everyone I know has some
sort of skeleton in their closet, so to speak.
We all sin.
Romans 3:23 For
everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s
glorious standard.
But the beauty lies in God’s
grace. He forgives us if we seek Him and
His forgiveness. No sin is too big. The blood Jesus shed on the cross provides
that forgiveness. His grace is a
gift. All we have to do is receive it.
I have talked to so many
people over the years who think like I once did. Who believe that God punishes us for our
sins. But there is so much in the bible
that is contrary to that school of thought.
All you have to do is get to know God and His character. Read about who Jesus says God is. Over and over, Jesus talks about God as the
perfect father, full of unconditional love, wanting the best for us, helping us
and providing for us.
God is good. He is love.
He does not give us pain or suffering because of an over inflated
ego. He does not have an ego.
The consequences of sin—maybe
our own or perhaps someone else’s- are what cause our pain and suffering. You see, while we are all free to choose our
actions, we are not free to choose our consequences.
God grieves with us. And while He does hate sin and He does get
angry about sin, He loves us.
Think of a parent who tells
a toddler not to touch a hot stove. When
that child disobeys and suffers a burn, we do not punish that child for
disobeying. Instead, we comfort them. We hug them and hold them and kiss
their little sweet hand. And we pray that
the consequences of disobedience will teach them to trust us more. And with that trust comes obedience. Obedience to rules that will protect them not
control them.
God does this same thing
with us.
Life on earth is full of bad
things. Pain and suffering run rampant
injuring some more than others, but all of us at some point just the same.
Even with my daughter’s
diabetes, I know that somewhere along the way, sexual sin corrupted her DNA. That DNA combined with certain environmental
factors has led to this terrible disease.
God did not give her diabetes.
Sin produced this disease and instead, God has led us through it and
continues to give us hope and strength every day. He gives us victory over sin. Jesus came and shed his blood for that very
victory.
Some people say “God won’t
give you more than you can handle.” Yes,
He will. But the truth is that He won’t
give you more than He can handle.
Let go of the guilt. Let go of the feeling that you are being
punished. Accept forgiveness. Accept grace.
Accept the invitation to enter into a deeper relationship with God, your
father, who loves you unconditionally and wants good things for you.
“Before I formed you in the
womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart.”- Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)
“And we know that in all things
God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to
his purpose”- Romans 8:28 (NIV). In
other translations, it says “God causes all things to work together for good.”
All things. Not just some things. Not just the big things. ALL things.
Take 4 minutes and soak in
this song. Be still, and know HE IS GOD.
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