Blame God? Yes!

How can suffering push you into God? In short, suffering clarifies. It pushes all the minutia off the table. It strips you of your strutting. It questions your egocentric doubt. It makes you mad, and when you’re mad, you look for someone to blame, don’t you?

What, blame God? Oh, yes! After all, God made the world! God made you with free will and just enough ignorance to really screw things up. So, yes, have a go at God with your suffering and your anger! Rant and rave. Cry and stomp. Lash out and throw rocks. And do this until you can’t move another muscle. Do this until you fall down empty and can’t utter another sound.

Then, just listen…

“Before I formed you in the womb, I dedicated you…” (cf. Jeremiah 1:5).

“I have written your name upon my hands…” (cf. Isaiah 49:16).

“I will bend the heavens and come down…” (cf. Psalm 18:10).

The God who made all of creation with just a word loves you. The God who set quantum mechanics into motion knows you. The God who placed enormous power inside an atom speaks to you.

What can happen should you take time to hear? Can your suffering or that of any other be too much for Him?

Reflection

How has suffering clarified your vision? Why might God have wanted this?

Prayer

Dear God, I am angry! I am hurting, and I am afraid. I come to You because there is no one else big enough to take me, to hear me, to see me. Some how, some way, I know to come to You. Some how, some way, I know I will find reason to go on, grace to grow, and hope to cling to. Have mercy on me, Lord. May I stay here and learn. May I receive Your love. May I wait for Your word. Amen.