I’m sure we have all experienced pain, suffering, troubles, challenges, you name it. Various hardships plague our lives every day. Sometimes it’s because we made a mistake or we didn’t do as we were told, but there are times when they are caused by external factors, things that are seemingly out of our control. It is in these situations where we might find ourselves clutching our heads in despair and say to ourselves “Why am I so unlucky?”, “What did I do to deserve this?” and maybe even blame God! However, this behaviour is not only unproductive and useless, it also puts our faith at risk.
First off, I want to say that I acknowledge that uncontrollable factors do exist, and happen all the time (Eccl 9:11). There are situations that you can’t control, like the weather for example, but that doesn’t justify blaming God or giving up. Let us look at the example of Job. Job was a righteous and blameless man who feared God, shunned evil and had a great number of blessings (Job 1:1-3), That didn’t spare him from Satan, who struck him greatly, taking away everything that he had (Job 1:13-18) and even afflicting him physically as well (Job 2:7-8). It would be easy for any normal person to give up amidst this situation, which was exactly what his wife suggested (Job 2:9). However, Job in spite of all his suffering never once blamed God, and instead rebuked his wife, and we note that he mentioned that God has the power to give and take away (Job 2:10).
Another example would be Jesus. In fact, He is the most perfect example of someone faced with temptations, rejections and revilings but yet never sinned or gave up. Jesus was sent to literally die for us, who were completely undeserving of salvation, and it wasn’t like Jesus enjoyed sacrificing Himself. Coming down in the likeness of men, He knew that He would have to experience the pain of crucifixion. His suffering over thinking about His impending doom is highlighted in the accounts of His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. In fact, He was in such agony and stress that His sweat literally became blood (Luke 22:44). Although Jesus would have wanted not to go to the cross as we can see in His prayer “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” (Matt 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42), He nevertheless submitted to God’s will. Jesus was given a difficult and painful task, and it would have been so easy to give up, as He himself mentioned in Matt 26:53, especially since, being omniscient, He knew exactly how much pain and humiliation He would have to go through, and yet despite all that He acknowledged God’s will and sacrificed Himself for all of us. No matter what challenges or difficulties we face, we must always remember that God is ultimately in control, and it is His will that we have to trust in as He loves us and wants the best for His children. As highlighted in James 1:2-8, we should in fact rejoice in the face of trials, knowing that we can pray to God for deliverance and emerge stronger amidst it.
We have to keep in mind that God is always in control. Facing various challenges is inevitable, but instead of giving up and blaming others, we just have to think of how to better improve ourselves and have faith in God, that He will guide us safely through them.