Part One: God It’s You’r Fault????
The reality is this: God set you apart. God gave us free will. God will love you no matter where you are at in your life. There is nothing you can do to keep God from loving you. He wants what is best for you. He will pursue you to the ends of the earth. There is no where you can hide from God. He knows your heart. He knows you better than you do. He created you. God is Loving. God is patient.
The reality is NOT: God allows bad things to happen. Allow me to elaborate. There was a time in my life when I blamed God for the bad things that happened. I blamed Him because He is in control of everything, right? You would be wrong, as I was also wrong in believing this. He gave us free will (Galatians 5:13). In giving us free will, we are free to choose Him or not. We are free to make that choice. We are free to go to the right or to the left. He wants us to choose Him, not force us into a relationship with Him. We are His kids, so of course He does all the stuff any parent would do when they see their kids headed down a dangerous road. He puts up road blocks, He sends messages, sometimes subtle, and sometimes not. He pursues you with everything He has. At the end of the day it is our choice to see and listen to Him.
The reality IS: Satan wants what God gave us. We are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27). We have everything Satan tried to get while he was in Heaven, before he got cast out for wanting to be worshiped like God (Luke 10:18). Satan is here to Kill, Steal, and Destroy. (John 10:10). Now if we have everything that Satan wants wouldn’t it make sense that he would do anything to keep us from obtaining the very thing he can never have? He wants us to think we are powerless, because he is, in fact, powerless. He wants us to think we are worthless, because he is, in fact worthless. He wants you to think about suicide, because if you are successful in killing your self Satan wins. He wants you to believe that no one loves you, because, in fact, no one loves him. He wants you to hate, because he is the embodiment of hate. Satan is a liar (John 8:44) he is a manipulator, he is deceitful, and most of all envious that we are made in the image of God. He wants what you have, and will do anything to take away what God wants in your life because no matter what he does he will never obtain it, but he can try to obtain you–if you fall into his lies and manipulation. God gave us His Perfect Gifts (James 1:17) in which we are able to defeat the enemy. It is not our job to fight him or even talk to him, or allow him to speak (Mark 1:25/Mark 1:34/Luke 4:35/Luke 4:41). The battle is already won! (1 John 5:4-5). One play the devil uses most often, and one that I hear most often, is this: When something bad happens, who is the first to receive the blame? If you are honest with yourself, you will blame God for it, just like I did for so many years. In reality, the Bible states that God is love and wants what is best for us. He has our best interest at heart ( Jeremiah 29:11). What the Bible also states is that Satan is here to kill, steal, and destroy as stated above. So ask yourself: would the God who created you in His image, who gave you heavenly gifts, and who wants to see your life blessed so you may also be a blessing to others would He really make bad things happen in your life? The answer is NO! Here is why bad things happen: free will was given to man.
I could give you hundreds of examples of people acting out of their free will as well as the ripple effect it has on loved ones, and strangers. I will give you one example from my own life: In my free will, I choose to drink and do drugs as a teenager, and throughout my young adult life. The effect this had on my family was worry, sleepless nights, and panic attacks. The effect it had on stranger’s was stolen goods I could sell to obtain my high. What they worked hard for I stole. The effect on me was jail and probation, co-dependency, lack of self esteem, attempted suicide, and self harm. None of these negative things listed above God created or orchestrated. Out of my free will, I created this lifestyle. Because I was rebellious against God, and He gave me free will, the consequences of my actions effected the loved ones around me, and strangers I never met. Satan whispered in my ear and put other hurt people in my midst who kept me there longer. Several times, I almost died from over dose. In those moments, God was the one who saved me. I did not deserve to be saved. I cussed His name daily. Yet even in all this, He saw my value, He saw my worth, and He rescued me from death. I did not see it then, but now it is clear as looking through a piece of glass.
I have so many other examples of how free will has caused unbelievable pain in the lives people and in the lives of others around them. You can not throw a rock into water and the water not ripple out. There are always ripples, and most of the time we are blind to see how far those ripples go.
It is easy to blame God. Because if you blame Satan, there is a harsh reality you have to admit: THERE IS A HELL. And if there is a Hell, a whole new can of worms opens up. The fact that you could be going there.
