There's a great irony happening among the people of the world. Many don't believe in God, deny that He exists, and reject the very idea that we were created by a good and benevolent Creator.
Yet, when something wrong happens, they quickly blame Him for it.
This thing happens even in the lives of many Christians. They disobey God, don't read His Word, and are too lazy or uninterested to pray, but when something wrong happens they are quick to say that "this is God's will for me," as if God wanted to harm them.
This is so wrong. (see Jeremiah 29:11)
Why do people do this? And yes, why would Christians do this? Is it even right to blame God for everything unpleasant happening around us?
Why the blame game?
Many of us don't realize it, but the blame game is a product of the sinful nature. We read in Genesis 3:9-13 how the first blame game ever happened:
"Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."
And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?" Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate."
And the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate.""
As humans born with the sinful nature inherited from Adam and Eve, people naturally (and unrighteously) want to escape responsibility. We don't want to admit our sins and feel shame for it. We want to be given a free pass even after committing what is not right in God's sight.
Psalm 14:2-3 perfectly captures what's the real deal here:
"The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, no, not one."
No one is righteous. Christian or non-Christian, everyone wants to be given freedom, but the freedom the devil teaches is a lie: "you can get away with anything."
What does it have to do with the unpleasant things happening around us?
Perhaps, by now you're asking what does this have to do with the unpleasant events happening to us and around us.
The answer is: Everything.
We live in a fallen world full of sinful people, including us. No one is exempted; all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (see Romans 3:23)
Sometimes, we cause unpleasant things to happen to us. We cheat, we lie, we do wrong things, and the consequences come to show us to the folly of what we do. At other times, another person's sinfulness causes him to do things that negatively affect us.
Sin has also corrupted this world, and through it death and decay has entered. Even creation awaits the return of Christ. Sin caused all these unpleasant things to happen to all of us.
So, are these unpleasant events from God? No, they're not.
Since sin caused these things to happen, should we blame God? No, we shouldn't.
But God is sovereign. Why did He allow sin to happen?
It's because He allowed mankind to choose, and mankind made the wrong choice.
In closing
Friends, we must understand that God doesn't cause unpleasant, harmful things to happen to us (see James 1:13). Every good and perfect gift comes from Him, and in Him there's no darkness at all (see James 1:17).
As such, we shouldn't blame Him for our unfortunate circumstances.
But, because He is good and merciful, we can hold on to Him and ask His help to enable us to go through what we're going through (see Hebrews 4:16).
And because He is faithful and just, we can repent of every sin and expect Him to forgive (see 1 John 1:9).
