God Is Not the Problem

God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  1 John 1:5

The Scripture above states that God is light but the Bible also states that God is good (Psalm 73:1).  It is so easy to lose track of the fact that God is good when we are facing trials and hardships.  Job lost track of this fact in the book of Job when he was facing extremely excruciating trials.  Often, people attribute the hardships they face to God.  The Bible is clear however that “the thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10).  It is not God, but the devil that brings trials and hardships! 

Even as a human being with a fallen nature, there are certain things that you may contend are not in your character to do.  You may think that it is not in your nature or character to kill or commit adultery for example.  So why do we think that it is in a loving God’s nature to bring destruction and wreak havoc in our lives, especially when He created us and sent His only Son to die for us?  Job stated in Job 14:19 that God “destroyest the hope of man” yet he repeatedly asserted to his three friends that he himself was righteous.  We often do the same thing that Job did.  We assert our own righteousness and attribute unrighteousness to God whether consciously or unconsciously.  I have shared the following story previously, but I remember a time that someone close to me accused me of something that was very painful.  The accusation was painful because it was not even in my nature to do what I was accused of and I thought they should have known that.  When thinking about it later, I said to myself, “It hurts when someone accuses you of something that it is not even in your nature to do.”  Immediately, I heard very distinctly on the inside of me God speak and say, “How do you think I feel.”  I repented for every time I accused God of bringing hardships I experienced that were really the work of the enemy.  Always remember that God is good and we can trust His goodness because of the integrity of His nature and character!