Blaming God

People frequently ask if it is fair to give God credit for good things, if we don't also blame him for the bad things.

I will be honest. At the loss of my sister in law, quite suddenly, I actually did blame God, even though it wasn't his fault really. But God has very big shoulders, and for a time, I feel he was happy to carry my sorrow for me. But, you can't spend a life in blame. If God asks us to always forgive, then how can we withhold forgiveness from God? And how can we withhold it if in fact we barely even understand what he is up to?

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world," God said to Job, "Tell me if you have understanding!" (Job 38:4)

Everything has a purpose... Earthquakes are a function of plate tectonics, and plate tectonics have allowed us to have the atmospheric composition we have, as well as shaping the continents on which life bloomed.

A world with complete geological stability? Venus - a barren pressure cooker where lead melts on the surface.

Diseases? Bacteria and viruses were some of the very first organic structures to populate the primitive seas. Viruses carried genetic material from cell to cell, enabling gene swapping at a time when sexual reproduction had not yet come. We might not be here to discuss this if it were not for these things, our very ancestors in very real ways.

Murder and rape are human caused. God is due no blame for the wilfully monstrous acts of men.

Yes, suffering is a mystery. Who can say with absolute certainty that they know of the good and godly thing that can come from a terrible, terrible circumstance?

But a life with no unexpected tragedy, a life with no sorrow, offers nothing for beauty and joy to be contrasted against. How would joy really be joy, if we did not know how unique, fragile, and precious joy really was? Who would work to bring joy, or seek to spread it?

Yes, God has broad shoulders. But don't think for a moment that God is not to be praised for the good and wonderful things. For it is our sorrow that permits us to truly know the value of that which is bliss.