Tweet ThisPerhaps this question seems ridiculous to you, or even offensive. Holiness is an attribute of God, a part of who He is, so by virtue of who God is He is incapable of sin. If God is incapable of sin why would we need to forgive Him?
Welcome to FREEDOM FRIDAY – A devotional, emotional, spiritual and sometimes hysterical series that I will be sharing on occasional Fridays, in addition to my regular Old Things New posts. Why? Because though once bound in chains Christ has set me free – FREE to live, to love, to dance, to sing, to be who God created me to be!
The past two Freedom Friday posts have been all about forgiveness, Forgiving Yourself and Forgiving Others (and they are really good so you might want to go back and read them!). At the end of my post on forgiving others I led you through a prayer of forgiveness and afterwards asked the question, “Was God’s name on your list of those to forgive?” That question leads to today’s post.
We all have hopes and dreams don’t we? We also all experience disappointments when our hopes and dreams aren’t fulfilled, leading us to question God.
“Why have you allowed this tragedy to come into my life?”
“Why did you allow my marriage to be broken apart by another person?”
“Why must I live with this constant pain?”
“Why did you allow the lie to be believed that turned my best friend against me?”
“Why have you allowed evil people to succeed when I try to do good and only see failure?”
“Why did you take my child’s life?”
“Why can’t I be beautiful, thin, rich, popular . . . ?”
“Why did you allow that person steal my innocence when I was just a child?”
“Why don’t you answer my prayers?”
The Psalms are filled with laments toward God!
There have been times in my life where I’ve prayed with all my heart to escape a hard situation and no escape came, or when I prayed for something that I thought was good and was met with only obstacles, or when I prayed for God to give me an answer and all I heard was silence. At times in my life I’ve been angry and wrestled with God over things that I felt weren’t “fair.” I’ve also been through times of great hurt where I felt abandoned and questioned God’s love for me.
Many of my unfulfilled expectations were things I felt God should have done for me or that He should have prevented from happening to me, (you can read a whole post about expectations HERE) but God never sets out to hurt us or cause us harm. He is perfect in all His ways (Psalm 18:30). He can always be trusted to do what’s best for those who follow Him (Rom. 8:28) even when it seems to us to be all wrong!
When I hold a resentment against God it hurts me! Click To Tweet
Bitterness and unforgiveness hold me in bondage. They steal my joy and keep me from moving forward in all of the fullness that God has for me.
So technically NO, God does not need our forgiveness. He is sinless and He never does anything to harm us. In truth, when we are angry with God we’ve placed our own expectations on Him rather than letting God be God and:
If I'm not letting God BE God I'm not really trusting Him. Click To Tweet
So maybe what’s really needed is for us to ask Him to forgive us for our attitudes of resentment toward Him and for placing our human expectations on the one who knows it all (Job 37:15-16; Dan. 2:22)!
In Job 40:8 (The Voice), after Job has done much questioning of God, God answers, “Would you go so far as to question my judgment? Would you imagine Me guilty merely in order to justify yourself?”
It is okay to be authentic and honest with God about how we feel. He understands our disappointments. To really grasp God’s sovereignty I had to come to a point in my life where I was stricken with fear over a situation that I had no control over. All I could do was choose to really believe that God was in control. It is such a release to trust Him and believe that He has my best interests at heart instead of trying to manipulate things to my own advantage.
So again, no, God doesn’t need your forgiveness. He loves you and desires a full and unhindered relationship with you. Letting go of bitterness, accepting God’s perfect plan for your life, and allowing His peace to flow into those places where you’ve once held resentment will set you free!
PRAYER: Papa God, please reveal those areas of my life where I’ve held resentment or anger against my circumstances, but really against You. I know that as your child you only desire what is good for me but sometimes Your best doesn’t make sense to me. I know that you are good and trustworthy, even when life is falling apart. You are righteous in all your ways. I’m sorry for the resentments I’ve held against you and though YOU don’t need forgiveness I forgive you for not doing it my way! I may even be a little bit relieved that you didn’t do it my way! Today I am letting go of the wrong thinking I’ve embraced and trusting You with every area of my life. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.
God’s best to you my dear readers,
All photographs taken at Symmes Chapel, AKA “Pretty Place”, in Cleveland, South Carolina.
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Beautiful, beautiful words.
And stern words of reproof: “When I hold resentment against God, it hurts me.”
Very well-placed for me in this season.
Thank you.
Very good message, Patti. I have a friend who doesn’t believe in God. He’s never really said why, but I think he is so very angry at Him, that he CHOOSES not to believe. He is so adamant and hateful about it, that he threatened our very friendship if I EVER sent him ANYTHING religious in nature via email. Over the years I’ve gleaned bits and pieces through little comments that lead me to believe it may have something to do with his Mother’s illness and subsequent death when he was much younger. We’ve never been able to sit down and discuss it since he lives in another state, a fair distance from me. I can not even imagine a life without God! Thanks for putting yourself out there the way you do. Blessings dear girl.
I LOVED to see the photos and the Words and the combinations. A real heart-grabber to me when going through this. Thank you so much!!
Great article, Patti, and one that few people address. We’ve all been there whether we recognize it or not. Thanks for shining light into a dark corner! Blessings, Becky M.
Thank you for writing. Such AWSOME words of the divines way! I think we all need to be reminded of Gods in charge!!! So many times I see and feel suffering and hurt and wonder why God allows such tragedy! Soooo hard to understand it all!
If I had a dollar for all the times I’ve asked God the why did questions, I would be filthy, stinking rich! Just recently I had to come to an appreciation that the why is not the point. My role is to surrender and let God be God. Oh how I wanted to counsel him! When he wouldn’t respond, I tried tears. But he held his ground and he saw me through some grueling adversities. I am not the same person I had been before. He’s changed me into someone completely different. The one major difference is that I know that in Him, I am strong. Thanks for opening up an honest discussion on this topic. God bless!
Patti this statement rang true to my ears, “It is such a release to trust Him and believe that He has my best interests at heart instead of trying to manipulate things to my own advantage.”
So true, yet sometimes so hard to release it to Him, oh, but when we do, that burden is lifted from us and peace takes over. Really enjoyed reading this 🙂
I really don’t think about forgiving God but after reading your words, I understand why we should. I had a situation recently were I was ticked off at God for what was happening. I need to forgive Him and then ask forgiveness for not trusting that He would take care of what I was going through. Love your words and how they teach us!
Patti,
With tears streaming, I thank you for this post. Though I read the pray, my flesh rebels against it. I’m angry. I’m resentful and down right hurt. I’ve had some specific prayers in direct alignment with His will that have not been answered. And it is in an area oh so sensitive, my children. I will continue to meditate on the truth of your words fr I KNOW they are truth even if I can’t receive it right now. I’m praying my spirit is strong enough to bear witness to the truth. Pls pray with me.
Beautiful, Patti. In both word & photos. I love the photos of that chapel & thank you for sharing them!
What a great word and reminder of what resentment does to our hearts and our joy!
And, your pictures are gorgeous!
I came over on Grace and Truth, and I’m glad to find your site!
Hope you have a blessed weekend~
Melanie
I remember when I was mad at God how he still reached out and showed me his love. Absolutely amazing his love!
HI, Patti, your post made me think of Philippians 4:6-7, about the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. That’s what we’ll receive when we truly trust in Him. Sabbath blessings!
When I have counseled believers in the past about things in their life that have caused searing pain, they’ve told me that they are angry with God.
And I’ve said to them,
“Of all the people you could be angry with, God is the safest, because he understands and he always forgives”
I think everyone goes through that stage. And to understand that God will not “zap” us for having feelings that are sometimes out of our control is something we need to be reminded of.
Does he deserve our anger? No.
Does he understand our frustration? Yes.
Does he forgive us? Yes. Even before we ask!
He’s the most understanding and best Father!
And we finally come to the understanding that he has not caused our suffering, we gain from that revelation and it draws us closer to him.
He doesn’t want us to be angry with him, but he understands and he forgives.