Nobody likes being blamed for things.
Especially when the accusations are false.
Even more troubling is when the one who did wrong was the one doing the blaming.
We’ve all been guilty of this at some point, of course, starting on the schoolyard playground and continuing into our adulthood at the workplace or home or even at church.
Yes, we humans are a sometimes difficult lot made even more so because of our random displays of evasive pride.
I use “we” with full knowledge that you and I might want to think we’ve never tried to shift the blame.
The fact is, though, we’d be hard-pressed to prove it to God.
I thank God for His grace because I don’t stand among the redeemed on the strength of personal perfection.
God knows that we insecurity-tainted humans would rather point fingers at others when citing reasons for our calamity than we would pointing at ourselves.
He’s seen humanity do just this from the beginning when Adam blamed God and Eve for his choice to sin.
You see, Adam pointed the finger at God in reaction to the problems he brought on himself.
Ouch! In one way or another, we’ve all done the same.
Just like Gideon did when the Lord appeared to him in the Book of Judges.
For seven years, the Israelites had been brutally oppressed by pagan nations who took all their livestock and probably most of their crop harvests. Hebrews were starving.
This sad state was the direct result of the Israelites rejecting God’s command to worship Him only rather than idols.
They tossed faith aside but when troubles came, they didn’t repent.
Instead, they chose to resent.
Wow. That sounds familiar.
Listen to the words of Gideon when the Lord appeared to him:
“If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” (Judges 6:14)
If you’ve ever thought or said, “Why didn’t God keep this from happening to me? Where are all these miracles the Bible talks about?” then you and Gideon are partners in weakened faith.
As am I, of course.
Amazingly, God chose to help Gideon through his extended pity party and actually used the young man in a powerful, nation-changing way.
Like I said, God is gracious.
And, like I said, we have no hope apart from that grace.
Please reject Satan’s temptation to point fingers of blame at God when life turns sour. For the fact is that many of our problems are the fruit of our own sour, self-seeking choices.
Let’s do better toward God and life will be better for us.
As always, I love you
Martin
