Sometimes life hurts us. And when we hurt, the natural response is anger.
When another person is responsible for our pain, our anger turns toward the one who has injured us. To restore peace, we know we need to forgive.
But sometime’s there’s no clear culprit in our suffering. At those times, it’s natural to place the blame on the One we know is in control of everything.
And so we unleash our anger on God.
What can a young woman do with her bitter feelings toward God when she finds herself experiencing her third miscarriage in fifteen months?
What can parents do with their profound anger toward God when they learn that their baby boy has Down’s syndrome?
How can an elderly man not blame God when he discovers that he has Parkinson’s disease?
How can a victim of a horrible care accident or a cruel rape effectively come to grips with the truth that God does care, He is all powerful, yet He permits awful tragedies?
To restore peace in his most important relationship, the Christian can choose to "forgive God" and in doing so, God lovingly let’s the believer see and understand the true power of forgiveness.
Us being forgiven by God is without question; but that God needs to be forgiven by me borders on blasphemy. Why?
Because the act of forgiving implies that the object of forgiveness is guilty of sin and needs to be pardoned.
But God can’t sin. He is holy. No one has the right to pardon God, for He has not sinned against anyone.
Yet many of us may need to go through a process with God that resembles forgiveness. Not because God has sinned and needs to be pardoned...
But because we treat Him as if He has.
Even though God doesn’t need to be pardoned, we may need to "forgive" Him.
Because if we don’t, then anger sets in...REASONS WHY WE GET ANGRY:
1. Some need to forgive God because they blame Him for all human tragedy.
------------------ILLUSTRATION: The Rabbi and the Tailor
There’s an old story about a Jewish tailor who met a rabbi on his way
out of the synagogue:
Rabbi: Well, and what have you been doing in the
synagogue?
Tailor: I was saying my prayers Rabbi.
Rabbi: Fine, and did you confess your sins?
Tailor: Yes, Rabbi, I confessed my little sins.
Rabbi: Your little sins?
Tailor: Yes, I confessed, that sometimes I cut cloth on
the short side and cheat on a yard of wool by a
couple of inches.
Rabbi: You said that to God?
Tailor: Yes, Rabbi, and more. I said "Lord, I cheat on
pieces of cloth; You let little babies die. But I
am going to make you a deal. You forgive my
little sins, and I’ll forgive Your big ones."
----------------------
Over the centuries, God has been accused of many big sins. He has been labeled as cruel, partial, sadistic, uncaring, and impotent.
Why would God allow a young father to accidently run over and crush his 3 year old child while backing his car out of the driveway?
To forgive God is to look these tough questions right in they eye, come to grips with the scriptural truth about God’s love, power, and sovereignty, and then to fully submit to His will.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." -- Isaiah 55:8-9
2. Others need to forgive God because they resent Him for not allowing a loved one to live.
When someone we love is diagnosed as having cancer, an army of believers begin to pray. To the doctor’s amazement, cancer is in remission.
Suddenly, two months later, it appears again. More prayers were offered to the Lord, but to no avail. She declines rapidly and dies.
Why? Her life was so productive. Why did she have to die? Why does God permit that good for nothing grump over there to live and yet insists that she die? It’s not fair!
Maybe it’s even started with a death of a loved one or animal...
----------------ILLUSTRATION: Charlie The Cat
"It was around Thanksgiving, just after our daughter turned five, that we brought Charley home. We named him after Charles, Prince of Wales.
The name seemed to fit just right for this shy little newly-adopted member of our family. His wonderful blue eyes seemed to look deep into your heart.
He was a bundle of joy always letting us know when he wanted attention. He was easy to love and each of us in our family grew closer and closer to him in our own special way. He brought us many years of joy.
But quite suddenly at the age of eleven, he was overcome with cancer that came on suddenly and rapidly took its toll.
We earnestly sought God for his healing. We laid hands on him daily hoping that God would touch him miraculously and restore him. We put his name on the prayer chain at church. We spent hours with the doctor trying to find a medical cure.
Each night I would go into his room and just sit with him, holding him close to me. The thought of losing him was unbearable.
One day I received a frantic call at the office from my wife. She was extremely upset, crying uncontrollably. I could hear Charley crying, gasping for air.
She had just taken him to the doctor when, without warning, he took a turn for the worse. He died shortly afterward. I was grief-stricken. I was also very angry.
Our precious Charley was dead. I couldn’t believe that God would allow Him to die that way, and without me being there to help console and support my wife and daughter.
I silently cried as we said our last good-byes. It was a horrible time for us. The loss of Charley was devastating.
The grief we experienced was just as deep as though he were human. You see, Charley was our beautiful flame point Himalayan cat.
The death of a cat may seem trite in comparison with a human, but, nonetheless, the grief we experienced was just as real as though he had been our own flesh and blood.
Every now and then something will trigger the sadness of his loss. The anger I had for many months afterward is now gone.
I had to come to a place of forgiving God for all that happened. I had to submit to His sovereignty in order to alleviate the pain and hurt I was carrying. It has helped me in learning to trust Him more."
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To forgive God is to choose to honestly identify one’s angry feelings toward God, verbalize them to Him, and then release them to His care:
Such feelings as why did you let my child get arrested and sent to juvenile detetion hall?
Why don’t you hear or even answer my small prayers?
If I’m supposed to trust you, why then am I always messing things up?
3. Some need to forgive God because they are angry with Him for creating them with flaws.
Flat feet, bad eyesight, speech impediments.
Comparison creates conflict.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. -- Romans 8:18
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
DECIDING TO RECONCILE:
A better way to describe what it means to forgive God is to say we need to reconcile with Him. Reconciliation means "to completely change."
The idea of removing the barriers that separate two individuals, so that the relationship can be changed from a state of enstrangement to a state of closeness.
When a barrier separates us from God, we must identify it and the conditions that have permitted the barrier to remain. Our attitude must be "completly changed" and the barrier removed.
When we do that, we reconcile with God.
"I beseech YOU" - for Christ’s sake - " be reconciled to God!" (2 Corinthians 5:20).
I haven’t got a clue as to what the future holds for me except this one great promise of Jesus, "I will never fail you. I will never forsake you." (Heb 13:5 NLT). I do know that my ultimate destiny is to forever stand in His presence and gaze upon His beauty.
BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS:
The bottom line of forgiving God is the removal of barriers that prevent us from trusting Him...
a. The barrier of silence: When a human relationship is strained, it is natural for both parties to avoid commun¬ication with the other. Yet without communication the removal of the separating barriers is impossible.
The same is true in our relationship with God, with one major exception: God is always available to communicate with us. But are we willing to talk with Him?
David was so overwhelmed by his enemies and felt so completely abandoned by God that he broke the barrier of silence with God by writing out this prayer in Psalm 22.
Read Psalm 22 exerpts: vs. 2, 7, and 11
QUESTION: Have you ever said something like that to God?
It is infinitely better to communicate our fustrated feelings toward God than to remain silent. But don’t forget that the goal in such communication is resolution, not merely emotional relief.
Whether you write it out, shout it out, or sing it out, just do, but always wait and listen…that’s we sometimes we fall short…listening to what God has to say
QUESTION: Have you ever been in a strained relationship were you only broke the silence by airing your feelings out without getting anything accomplished? What happened?
b. The barrier of resentment: This is perhaps the most difficult barrier to get rid of, for it requires us to acknowledge that we are actually bitter toward God.
Notice in Psalm 22 how David acknowledged his anger with God? He didn’t pull any punches. He said what was on his heart that God had been ignoring his prayers, even though the things that he had learned had told him otherwise.
QUESTION: When was a time that "theology" or “what you believe” told you one thing, but your "heart" told you another? (I John 3:19 22)
When we’re uptight with God for any reason, we must come to grips with our hostile feelings and describe them to God.
Seeds of bitterness lead to a crop of rebellion…(throw seeds)
c. The barrier of forgetfulness: Some of us ask lots of "why" questions—especially during a crisis. Answers to some of these questions aren’t satisfying. It’s times like these that we are most likely to challenge God.
Some people are bitter because they don’t understand God’s love. When they accuse God of being unfair or cruel, they simply show others that they have not even tried to find out what God says in the bible.
Not so for most believers. We already know that God cares, that He is able to do whatever He wants to, and that He never makes a mistake. But how often we forget!
Have you ever came to church or Ground Zero and go home even madder or more miserable than when you came? Did you forget God? I have many times!
That’s why praise is so important in worship. You may be the most grouchy person in the building that morning. But once you direct your focus toward God, your outlook is altered. You can’t look into the face of Jesus and go away mad.
Don’t FORGET to lift your heart to God
The scripture doesn’t answer all the specifics of our "why" questions, but it does sharpen our focus on the One who knows why.
QUESTION: Which do you choose in making it right with God? Bitterness or Trust?
IN CLOSING:
QUESTION:
What will happen if a believer’s anger toward God remains unresolved? (Phil. 3:15 19)
MAKING PEACE WITH GOD
Feelings like the following can be signs that a person is harboring resentment toward God. Do you find yourself agreeing with many of these statements?
I can’t see to worship wholeheartedly anymore.
I often feel cynical about spiritual things.
I usually have to force myself to spend time with God.
I keep thinking about a situation that I wish was different.
I don’t want other Christians to know how I am doing spiritually.
I’ve lost my desire to share my faith.
I often obey God because I "should," not because I want to.
Sometimes I think that God in unconcerned, capricious, or sadistic.
If you’ve answered yes to any of the above, God is seeking you for fellowship. To become close to Him once again.
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