When God's Against Us - Part II

I thought I'd follow up on another post about this subject. I remember a journal entry I have about couple of months ago, in the essence that God does not intentionally afflict. We have been conditioned to think that as soon as a crisis come in our lives God must be against us. I would like to dispute that thought today. I don't want my other post on this to be misunderstood; as if God is out to get us. My intent on that post is to show what we need to do when things go wrong in our lives. We need to go and talk to the Lord; find out what's going on. Is He really against us? Or is He actually seeing the path we're heading and is trying to get our attention before we are completely lost? Or maybe in truth He sees our struggle and is trying to reach out to us to help us? Whatever the reason, we need to find out first from Him what's going on, before we come to the conclusion that He's against us and is "punishing" us. I want us to see that today; that God is good and He does not willingly afflict.

There is only one reason I can find that He will intentionally be against you, and that is if you intentionally rebel against Him. When He has talked to you and let you know His desire but you are defiant against Him and hate Him and want absolutely nothing to do with Him anyway - and is going around hurting people; then watch out. Us going around hating and hurting people are one of His pet peeves. He will not let that go. He is just and He is merciful so He will avenge those that you hurt. But even then, even how horrid you might be, (think of king Manasseh in the Old Testament), if you repent and turn from your wickedness, He will abundantly pardon. And yes, He is slow to anger too and of a great mercy; so when you think the other person should've been "punished" already and seems to be getting away with murder, be patient. The Lord could be working on him and is waiting for him to turn around.

That being said, let's move on to our study.

So today, I want to go the famous sufferer of all in the history of mankind, (besides Jesus Christ), Job himself. We all know Job. He didn't know why he was suffering and he wanted to know what he had done wrong. Here were his complaints:

33:9 I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.

33:10 Behold, He findeth occasions against me, he counteth me for His enemy.

33:11 He putteth my feet in the stocks, He marketh all my paths.

34:5 For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.

Some of you might feel like Job. You feel like God is against you. And you might even think you've done nothing wrong; that you are actually doing everything right. Well, read on.

Here is Elihu's understanding of God: (Elihu is the fourth person in the room after all the other three friends of Job had gone accusing him of sin in his life - the reason of his sufferings. Elihu was actually there - the youngest out of all four of them. It turns out he understood God more that they all did.)

34:10 Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that He should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that He should commit iniquity.

34:11 For the work of a man shall He render unto him and cause every man to find according to his ways.

34:12 Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.

34:13 Who hath given Him a charge over the earth? Or who hath disposed the whole world?

34:17 Shall even he that hateth right govern? And wilt thou condemn Him that is most just?

34:19 How much less to Him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? For they all are the work of His hands.

And here is Job's conclusion about God, after he had seen Him:

42:2 I know that Thou canst do everything and that no thought can be withholden from Thee.

42:3 Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.

42:5 I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee.

42:6 Wherefore, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.

You know, ever since we came to the knowledge of the book of Job, we all like to come to the same conclusion that Job did: God afflicts. How come we never, so few of us anyway, come to the same conclusion that Elihu did? God does not afflict. He doesn't go around afflicting people as if He delights in afflicting them. How come we forget that it's the devil that afflicted Job? Not God.

And then we also think right away, "I have all these problems, ugh, I feel like Job, God is allowing the devil to afflict me. It must be. What else is the reason?" As if we are an extra-ordinary person like Job was, and God is singling us out. Or the other extreme I've heard, "Well, I am a sinner and a horrible person, God is right to be afflicting me. I must bear it like Job."

No offense, but this is rather arrogant don't you think? As if we're better than Job? We are going to take "these troubles" as God's punishments against us and we will bear this up as patiently as Job did?

Well, Job wasn’t really patient about it actually. Job complained. You see how he was saying, "I am righteous…I didn't do anything wrong…Why does He treat me like I'm His enemy? What did I do wrong?" In essence, I don't deserve this at all!

That's not being patient is it? That sounds like someone complaining to me. (And rightly so, Job was righteous. He was right. He did nothing wrong.)

But we read the book of Job and come away with the conclusion that we mustn't complain when we're afflicted. And the real sad part: that God afflicts. Or at least lets the devil afflict us. Which at the end of the day ends up to be the same thing: God afflicts us. We forget about the devil altogether and we end up believing God is afflicting us or punishing us, for sure. Yep, there's the devil rejoicing away that the people of God who supposedly love Him and believe in His goodness are now thinking evil of Him.

What? We say we're not thinking evil of God when we conclude He's the one punishing us and afflicting us?

Sure we do. That is thinking evil of God. We are accusing Him of doing something He hasn't done. That's the problem, we completely forget what Elihu told Job:

"Touching the Almighty, we cannot find Him out: He is excellent in power and in judgment and in plenty of justice: He will not afflict." {Job 37:23} 

We all assume right away God is afflicting us and is punishing us when things go wrong. This thought is so ingrained in us.

(We even like to think that about others who are suffering. "Hm, I wonder what he or she done?")

That is wrong! We must be very sure it is God before we go concluding He is the one afflicting.

Here's another thing Elihu said:

"Behold, God is mighty and despiseth not any: He is mighty in strength and wisdom." {Job 36:5}

He just doesn't go around delighting in afflicting people - even if they've done something wrong. He is very merciful. "He despiseth not any…" He gives us a word to correct us first, to make us repent and to turn away from what we're doing wrong. He just doesn't drop the bomb on us. He sends us His word. He prompts us in our spirits to turn away from wickedness.

He sent Jonah to the land of Nineveh to encourage them to turn away from wickedness, because they didn't know that what they were doing were wrong; before He sent judgment against them. Lot went to his children and told them what's going on and that God is about to burn the place. The angels of the Lord told him to do it. He urged them to come away with him. But all they did was laugh at him. The children of Israel sent messengers first to the land of Benjamin and asked for the elders of the land to turn the wicked men who committed whoredom. They were only going to punish the wicked men alone. They didn't go and slay everyone without warning. Why then, would God "punish us" and "afflict us" without warning us first? Especially if we are His children who confess to love Him? Are we better than God?

We can ask and say, "Lord God, why am I going through this? What did I do that's wrong or merit this afflictions?" Rather than say, "God, why are You letting these sorrows and troubles happen to me in my life?" You could be very well be wrong. The scripture states, "He makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends the rain on the just and on the unjust." {Matthew 5:45} He treats everyone alike according to his or her works and is very merciful.

It could be the reason you are sick is you don't take care of yourself. Or the reason your car died when you're running late for work is because you haven't taken care of your car. Or your children are rebellious and unruly because you've indulged them and given in to everything and never corrected them. (Or the opposite extreme, you were too hard on them and did not show mercy). Is that God's fault? Why blame God? Maybe we need to look at ourselves first before we point fingers on God.

Man since Job's time, has learned to blame God instead of learning what Job did; ask for an answer. So what if he found out he was wrong and had to repent; God showed up didn't He? So what if God didn't "exactly" give him the answer he was looking for? Why should that stop us? God showed up - that was Job's answer. He saw how right Elihu was - God is holy, God is righteous, God is perfect, God will never fail in His judgment.

So ask. Don't just accept your afflictions. Or you’ll never see God.

Just seeing God was Job's answer. That's why God didn't have to explain to Job why. Furthermore, God gave him a discourse on how He does things in nature. All showing His greatness and how truly wonderful He is.

Now, don't get me wrong; don't think God doesn't send correction and send afflictions to correct us. He does. But don't take it lying down when it doesn’t make any sense. And don't come to conclusion either and quickly say, It's God. But if you know exactly why, for example He's been warning you about a sin, then comes the affliction? Well then, you know what’s going on.  He wants us to repent and make it right with Him. There’s no sense in making it harder for us by running away and hardening our hearts to Him. The sooner we repent and make it right with the Lord, the sooner He will make it well for us. And He will bless us because He is a very good God and delights in blessing His people who obey Him.

We have to be careful of our thoughts regarding God. We must always ascribe righteousness to God. He is holy and good. It is not His pleasure to see us suffer every turn we go. He came to die for us so we can have life abundantly and give us peace.

The Lord would send His prophets to warn the children of Israel from doing wickedly - to preach to them to repent, again and again, before He sends correction. And when they cried out to Him He is very merciful to them and saves them.

"But though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. To crush under His feet all the prisoners of the earth, to turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not." {Lamentations 3:32-36}

We, who are humans and faulty, know how to show mercy and patience to our children, how much more God who is very loving and tender-hearted? He will not afflict willingly. We are created in His image; which means He has feelings too like we do. If we don't like being accused of wrongdoing, neither does He. We should first find out from Him what's going on before we accuse Him of being against us. 

"But let him that glorieth glory in this: that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the LORD who exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith the LORD." {Jeremiah 9:24}