The Write 31 Days Challenge – 31 Days,Every Day,One Topic
Day 21
(day 1 starts here)
Have you forgiven God? Click To TweetPerhaps 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. So why do we need to forgive Him?
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. I know I did!
“Why have you allowed this tragedy to come into my life?”
“Why did you allow my marriage to be torn apart by another person?”
“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?”
The Psalms are filled with laments directed 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 obstacles, or when I prayed for God to give me an answer and all I heard was . . . crickets.
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!
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.
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 answered, “Would you go so far as to question my judgment? Would you imagine Me guilty merely in order to justify yourself?” OUCH!
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 turn the situation over to God, who always has my best interests at heart. It is such a release to trust Him 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!
Guess what? Tomorrow, Day 22, I have another DIY project and a lesson learned at the beach. Searching for Perfect Seashells.
Blessings m’dears,
To read this entire series you can start Here, on Day 1. If you’ve enjoyed this post don’t forget to SHARE!
I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
Sunday:
SundaysAtHome, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, SilverPenniesSundays, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays
Monday:
IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor, TheDedicatedHouse, Dwellings, ProjectInspired, InspireMeMonday, CelebrateYourStory, What Joy is Mine/Monday Musings, Darling Downs Diaries, The Art of Homemaking, MomentsOfHope, Glimpses, SittingAmongFriends, InspireMeMonday, GodSizedDreams
Tuesday:
TalkOfTheTown, HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, CoastalCharm, CedarHillFarmhouse, TuesdaysAtOurHome, TheWinthropChronicles, Rich Faith Rising Unite Linky, Testimony Tuesday,Cheerleaders of Faith,Tell His Story WorthBeyondRubies
Wednesday:
SavvySouthernStyle, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesdays, Coffee for Your Heart, MessyMarriage, ThreeWordWednesday, WriterWednesday
Thursday:
ShareYourStyle, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, MyRepurposedLife, ADelightsomeLife, KatherinesCorner, Thought Provoking Thursday, SincerelyPaulas, ThoughtfulThursday, Tune-inThursday
Friday:
FrenchCountryCottage, TheCharmOfHome, TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday, ShabbyliciousFriday, Faith’nFriends, Dance With Jesus FreshMarketFriday
Saturday:
FunkyJunkInteriors, SaturdaySparks, TheInspirationGallery, Make My Saturday Sweet
Another great post, Patti. Thank you.
Thank you my dear friend Sharon. It’s been different this 24 (so far) days. I think I’ll be ready to share some pretties when I’m done 😉
Your words spoke to me today as I sometimes struggle with my heart knowing what my head knows – that God is good and kind. Visiting you today from the worth beyond rubies link up laurensparks.net
Thanks, Patti. I feel like our two posts are kindred.