The voice on the other end of the phone unraveled the personal details of losing a business she had devoted decades of her life to.
“My business partner stole my part of the business, pushed me out and left me with nothing.
I went from living in a penthouse to living in my car.”
“I was mad at God for a long time.
How could He take my life from me?”
I hear sentences like this a lot.
I’ve also heard:
“My son died of an overdose. Why did God take my son?”
“My life feels so broken. Why did God let my marriage fall apart?”
“Why did God put cancer on my mother?”
All these sentences are born out of grief.
I get it.
I’ve had tragic things happen in my life as well.
Really tragic things.
It’s human nature to look for someone to blame; someone who failed us; someone who didn’t protect us.
But one thing I am certain of.
“God did not take your business.”
“God did not take your son.”
“God had no hand in your marriage falling apart.”
“God doesn’t put sickness or disease on us.”
We live in a fallen world and there’s a lot of brokenness.
But our own personal healing can’t be complete unless we have an understanding of God’s character and the part He plays in our stories.
God’s Character
God is love. —1 John 4:8
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. —James 1:17
The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth. —Exodus 34:6
His mercy endures forever. —1 Chronicles 16:34
The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. —Psalm 145:9
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. —1 Peter 5:7
His loving kindness is everlasting. —1 Chronicles 16:34
These are just a few of the Scriptures that talk about God’s character.
Bottom line.
He is good. He is loving. He is abundant in mercy and kindness.
God is our healer. He is our protector.
He is our deliverer.
It can be confusing when tragedy hits your life.
I know.
I’ve been there.
As a person who has experienced abuse, neglect and rejection as a child, I could have blamed God.
I can’t tell you why I didn’t; but I never did.
When I was introduced to Jesus in my twenties I started to read the Word, and God began to reveal His character to me.
You Can Trust God
When the enemy comes in and steals something from your life;
I want to invite you to place blame where it is due.
The Word of God clearly tells us that the enemy comes to “kill, steal and destroy” us.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. —John 10:10
Fear, sickness, addiction, and everything else that isn’t GOOD comes from the enemy, not from God.
Did God allow it?
That’s another question altogether, and a very good one.
God sent Jesus to pay the price to free us from every work of the enemy.
Through Jesus we have the authority over all sickness, disease, addiction, lack, fear, and basically everything that doesn’t contribute to an overcoming life full of peace and joy.
Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” —John 16:33
That’s your answer.
Jesus has overcome the world and the Word tells us that as believers we have a right everything that Jesus paid for.
We have authority over all the works of the enemy.
But that is not a passive stance.
We have to exercise our authority.
We have to find our promises in the Word and appropriate these promises in our lives.
Yes, bad things sometimes happen.
Tragic things.
Things that are hard to get over.
But maybe, just maybe, we can think of these things in a different way.
We can realize God is good and He did not bring these things to our lives.
Sometimes we gain an understanding of why certain things happen.
Sometimes we just don’t know, and we won’t know until we are face to face with Jesus.
But if we continue to blame God we are twice deceived because we will continue to give away our power; we will continue to walk without the authority that was given to us.
This is a tough subject to write about because I am aware that someone who is reading this is still in pain from a situation you’ve gone through that you don’t understand. Please allow it to help you begin to heal and to trust the One who loves you with an everlasting love.
Knowing and understanding God’s character will give you peace and confidence.
You won’t be confused when you pray.
You will have the confidence to pray bold prayers against the attacks of the enemy because you will have an understanding that God is not the author of confusion. He wouldn’t deliver you from sickness by sending His Son to die on the cross and then turn around and put sickness on you to teach you something.
That’s not a loving Father.
That is not the character of God.
God is love.
