Many Christians believe that being children of God entitles them to a healthy and happy life, especially if they walk closely with Jesus. However, when something tragic happens, they ask God, “Why me?” Why my child? Why my friend? I thought you were a kind and caring God who loves and protects us from harm.”
Challenging God’s character is a sin. God is holy and cannot sin against us. He possesses an infinite, incomprehensible degree of purity. God can never sin. He does not make mistakes.
1 John 1:5 says, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”
Knowing the attributes of God in the Bible will build up our faith during challenging times in our lives. For example:
God is sovereign. He is all-present, meaning he is not limited to time or space. God is everywhere. He is all-knowing. He knows everything that is, was, and will happen. Nothing happens that God does not know.
God is all-powerful, which means that He is not limited by anything. Psalm 33:9, “For He spoke, and it came to be; he command and it stood firm.”
God is truthful, meaning that everything about Him is true. His knowledge and words are true, and the final, unwavering standard of truth is in Him. John 14:6, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father exept through me.'”
God is Good. All that God does is worthy of our approval because He is the standard of good. Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, and have been called according to his purpose.”
God is love. His love is the cause behind all that is. He loved us so much that He allowed His Son to be brutally beaten and put to death so that humanity could be free from eternal death, which is separation from God. He desires us to trust Him in all circumstances and love others the way He loves us. 1 John 4:8, “God is love.”
God is righteous. God always does what is right. God Himself is the standard for all that is right. Deuteronomy 32:4, “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.”
So, is it wrong to be angry at God? Yes! Being angry at God is a sin when we lash out at God and blame Him for not keeping us from hurt and pain. He allows us to suffer for reasons we don’t understand. When we know and trust God in all areas of our lives, we can be confident that, no matter what, God uses our suffering to bring us closer to Him for His glory and our growth.
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).
God gives us choices: we can respond to God by getting angry at Him for allowing bad things to happen to us, or we can go to Him and ask Him to be with us and guide us through troubling times. When we know and trust God completely, we will experience His peace and strength to get us through the most challenging times. In the process, we will not only become stronger in our faith, but Satan’s scheme of trying to disrupt our faith in God will have failed. In the end, God will be glorified!
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33)
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).
God never promised us that life would be easy. He promised His peace and joy in the best and worst times. It is our job to trust our sovereign God with our lives and bring Him glory by being His light to a dying world. People need to witness us when we are suffering to show others that through Jesus, we can do all things that strengthen us. God is faithful.
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).
The full version of the Serenity Prayer beautifully sums up God’s desire for us to live by this attitude.
“God, give me the grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, Taking, as Jesus did, This sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it, Trusting that You will make all things right, If I surrender to Your will, So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen”