It's God's Fault!

Have you ever noticed that God always seems to get the blame when bad things happen but seldom gets credits when things go well? We just studied the raising of Lazarus and that wonderful tiny verse, "Jesus wept." I was so struck by His groanings, His tears, that I had to take some time to really meditate on that passage in John 11. And I discovered ME. I often say, along with Martha, "If only You had been here, this wouldn't have happened." I ask Him, Why? I chastise Him (yikes!), You could have stopped this!

No wonder Jesus wept. Looking out at His creation, He saw the ravages of sin and the devastation of a fallen world. He saw again the beauty that had been marred, most likely beyond recognition, when death entered the world. He heard the accusation and yet, instead of rising up in righteous indignation and throwing the blame back where it rightly belonged, He wept.

Isn't that just like God? To have such compassion welling up in His heart that it breaks at the sight of our sorrow, our doubt, our pain, our sin -- it is too wonderful to comprehend. Instead of giving His children what they deserve, He brings comfort. Instead of giving us a quick fix or simply ignoring our sad state of affairs, He gathers us in His arms and whispers to us of His love, soothing us, showing us His heart.

We are so short-sighted we seldom see beyond ourselves. Is He able? Of course He is. Is it His fault? Absolutely not. Will He always fix it? No. Sometimes His comfort needs to be enough. But in order for it to be enough, we should climb up in His lap and snuggle into His embrace. I want to stop blaming Him for things that are not His fault. I want to be content that the Creator of the universe loves me. I want to trust Him with my whole heart and remember that this fallen world, this sinful life, is NOT what He intended for me. And that it's NOT His fault. It's ours.