Many people get angry at God when things go wrong in their lives. “God, how could you let this happen? I thought you were a loving God!” Does God let bad things happen in our lives? Yes, in a sense He does. It is what we call His permissive, or reluctant will. God does not want us to suffer, but His agenda is not of this world. Every thing permitted to happen (both Joy and Suffering) happens for a greater good — an eternal good. It is the eternal good that matters, and that’s virtually impossible for us to figure out.
At this point, a skeptic might say: “Don’t give me that crap. It’s just a poor excuse for the reason of suffering.” But in all honesty, this is the very HEART of Christianity. Christians preach one core belief: the Crucified Christ. The suffering and death of Jesus was a great tragedy. Everyone in the world would agree Jesus was a good man with morals. But yet, he received injustice. Jesus himself cried out in frustration on the cross as he lamented Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Yet, the eternal good from that event was beyond every conceivable worldly good. Understanding this illuminates our minds on the question of suffering. This is how and why a Christian should make sense of their suffering — to unite themselves with Christ’s suffering and embracing our crosses.
View this post on Instagram
1 thought on “Blaming God”
Noel, please read the interpretation from Michael Guinan OFM of Jesus praying Psalm 22.2 on the cross. This is not a prayer of only feeling forsaken but one of deep faith in God’s providence by the psalmist. This plea can not be understood out of context of the entire psalm.