The difficulties of life have left many wondering, “If God is so good why is my life so bad?’ And, believe me, it can get bad beyond what you might have imagined. Although they would never verbalize it or even admit to thinking it, I suspect more than a few faithful church members have felt the same. After all, God’s dealing with us can be very mysterious and miserable. As much as we think we would like to know why God permits or plans such unpleasant things there is no explanation to be found. We don’t know, others can’t help, and God isn’t talking. We suffer in silence—save for our complaints.
There is a good chance that someone reading this feels exactly as I have described. If that’s you, please know that God knows, He understands, and He cares. Before you beat yourself up for entertaining such thoughts, I want to remind you that the Psalmist expressed similar feelings without being rebuked by the Lord for it (Ps. 142). Jeremiah and Job even accused God of treating them like an enemy, and seemed to imply that they were being treated unfairly, yet God allowed them to rant. However, we must remember that while it is fine to pour out our complaint to God privately it is never right to complain about God. We must never accuse Him of being in error or unfair. He makes no mistakes.
No one knows how you feel/hurt better than God. He knows you are confused. He hears your questions. Yet He doesn’t cave in to your appeals for change. He doesn’t alter His plan because we don’t approve. What He does do is promise grace to sustain us and to use it for His glory and some good. So, since He doesn’t change, your only hope for peace in your storm is to accept what He allows. You don’t have to of course. You can fuss and fight and make yourself more miserable. But when we trust God’s promises and surrender to His will we are given a peace that passeth all understanding.
