Few people like to take responsibility for their mistakes, which means when things go wrong we look for some other person to be responsible. Worse, when we can’t place responsibility on somebody else, then we blame God. This is easy because after all, he doesn’t show up in person to defend himself, or send a letter, or even make a statement. Without knowing him, his ways or his reasons; we make him guilty of our sins.

God is the ultimate power in the universe; however, there is also evil. At its very core, evil is against God; therefore, when evil happens it is not simply a war against you – it’s a war against God. The evil is not God’s fault because a kind, loving and forgiving God does not cause bad things to happen; however, God does allow bad things to happen to test the individual who is suffering, to punish the offender so that they will not do it again and as part of his perfect plan for us.

To blame God for something that went wrong is short sighted. For example, when we were teenagers our parents might not have allowed us to go to parties, dances, concerts or after-school social activities, and at the time we might have blamed them for not allowing us to have fun. Yes, it’s possible they were to blame; however, the result was we studied enough hours to get into University or College.

God frequently gets the blame for war, but God has nothing to do with it because war is fought for land, resources, politics, a misunderstanding of religion, jealousy, hatred and greed. War is not just an actual war, but also the threat of war.

God created more than enough land for us and the animals, which leaves us no reason to fight; however, history is full of wars caused by people wanting somebody else’s land. The worldwide settlements of the Europeans as well as other nation’s expansionism are prime examples of this. Had the Europeans run out of land when they did this? No, they simply wanted somebody else’s land, and once they took the land, they forced the native people into slavery, or near-slavery. This was not God’s fault because he made us all brothers and sisters and told us to share.

War or the threat of war, is also brought about by resources, and in our modern world, where resources are running out, this problem is worsening. Some resources are considered precious, and essential, and a further complication is that they often located on someone else’s land, and/or in areas that are not politically stable.

Diamonds are a prime example because other than for industrial uses, they have no real value. They are simply compressed carbon: barbeque charcoal pressed down by heavy rock. We have placed a huge value on a useless mineral, and we are ready to fight for it. God never told us to give it value; therefore, we cannot blame God when this mineral is a source of greed and conflict.

The same is true of gold. It has industrial uses, but its main value is artificial. Gold is a world recognized symbol of status. Again, the basis of gold’s valve is greed. Like diamonds, gold is mostly located in the politically unstable regions of the world.

The best example of the idea of greed is oil. Wars are fought over oil, and God is pulled into the dispute. We built a society dependent on the car and oil, where people no longer live within walking distance of their work, schools, and shopping, they drive. A vacation is not simply to a local area, it is often to a spot thousands of miles away. A car gets you from point A to point B, with you wrapped up in 2000 pounds of metal; however, public transportation can do the same for a fraction of the cost. A large car or SUV is purely about status. We cannot blame God for the wars fought over oil because it is we who demand the oil to fuel our wasteful lifestyles. There are alternatives to oil, and yet they are not being used due to the greed of the oil companies and other interested parties. Blame does not stop there.

Of all the things God gets blamed for, starvation is the most common. The individual might want to know why, if God really loves the world, does he cause starvation to happen?

God does not cause starvation to happen because there is enough food to feed the whole world many times over. The industrialized countries are obese, with the trend increasing each year, whilst the third world starves. Each day, we convert more valuable agricultural land into industrial or residential use; further, we take land that is suitable to grow grain, and convert it for land to grow beef. To offset the decrease in useable land, we have to grow more and better crops each year on the same land, but this involves the use of pesticides. The problem is the insects rapidly become immune to the pesticides, and then increase in numbers and bring destruction to the crops.

In the third world, farmers used to grow “staple” crops, which were foods grown to use by the farmer and his family, and any extra food was sold locally. In the modern world economy, third world farmers are increasingly being forced to grow “cash” crops, which are crops like coffee, tea, and tobacco, grown to be sold overseas with the farmer earning a tiny fraction of the profit. These products cannot be eaten, and they are not necessities which means they increase world starvation by taking good, food-growing land out of production. Food no longer grown and consumed locally is then transported to the fattest regions of the world, and worse, massive-scale corruption in the third-world also stops much of the Food from arriving to its destination.

Spoilage is also a worldwide problem as rats and other pests are responsible for the loss of up to 10% of the world’s food.

In terms of health, when a family member is horribly sick or dies early in life, we tend to blame God. This is wrong. If we have abused our bodies for many years then we must take responsibility for our own health and not expect God to work a miracle. We can start by getting more exercise, not smoking, dealing with anger resentment and other issues, and eating correctly. God tells us our bodies are his home; therefore, we must treat our bodies with respect.

If on the other hand we are victims of poor genetics or environment then we must realize that along with God, there is evil in the world, and it’s evil that causes our sickness and death and not God. God never promised us he would keep us free from sickness and suffering, on the contrary, sickness and suffering seem essential to God’s plan. Look at Jesus for example: He suffered worse than anyone in history; however, he never blamed God.

What God does promise, is the strength, guidance, and wisdom to deal with and eventually overcome our suffering, but sometimes, we only defeat our suffering through death.

Once we are dead, we immediately go to heaven. That’s where life really starts. Once we’re there – where there’s peace, happiness, understanding, and rest – we won’t be blaming God. It’s all about faith.

There are occasions where we put a great deal of effort into something, and get less out of it. This can happen; however, we usually get out what we deserve. If we study enough, and properly, then we’ll probably get into university or college. If we eat correctly and exercise, then we will most likely keep good health.

If we are positive, unselfish, interested in others and not a shallow then we will probably have friends, but it’s up to us to join a church group if we’re lonely. Don’t blame God; maybe, we have to change.

Many Christians blame God because he didn’t “answer” their prayer. Consider these things. Did we pray for something God wanted us to have? Did we try to bargain with God? Did we give God a deadline? Very important: Did we keep quiet and listen to God after we prayed? Did we trust God enough to understand that we might not get what we want; however, we would get what was best for us? We cannot blame God because we don’t’ get what we want.

To blame God, is to not trust God. He works on an eternal plan and we are a part of that plan, but not the entire plan. When something bad happens to us it is just a small piece in a bigger program. For example, if we suffer it could be that God is making us suffer to test how those who are around us react to our suffering, or the homeless person may be out there on the street begging, to see what we do about it.

There are of course many situations with no human answer, like a baby drowning, or a death in a car accident. To blame God seems reasonable to many, but to trust him is the point where the agony will turn to everlasting good.

The problem with blaming God is that it runs counter to sound logic. When things go wrong, then it’s easy to blame God; however, when things go right, we should also blame God. We like to take the credit for our education, career, and marriage; however it is God, not us who deserves the credit. Blame works both ways.

At some point we will all die. Following this we will stand before God on Judgment Day where we will have to explain every act, every thought and every word we ever said. We will have to explain to God why we blamed and doubted him.

God created us, he sees all and he knows all. He is everywhere and everything. God knows we hurt and are sad; moreover, he knows we are weak and that we doubt Him. Thankfully, he makes allowances for us because he knows we are humans. He doesn’t expect perfection; he wants us to try our best.

There are ways to battle doubt and weakness like praying to God for strength and insight, taking control of our lives though trust in God patience and action, and simply believing that God loves us.

We need to say to God: “I don’t blame you God. I know you allowed this to happen, and I don’t understand why, but I know that it is for the best.” By not blaming God, we trust Him. This allows God to do his perfect work in our lives.

Try to recognize there is evil in this world, and to fight evil we have to work hard and to think intelligently. If we don’t get the job we want then don’t’ blame God, but volunteer a while until we get a job. Let others benefit from our hurt. If we don’t get into University then again, don’t blame God, but work a year and give some of our time and pay to the poor. If that relationship with the girl we thought we loved doesn’t succeed, then we should spend some time teaching reading skills to poor kids or new immigrants to redirect the hurt out from us. We must pray and ask God to get us busy.

The book of Job is a book in the bible. Job was a man who suffered terribly, but when his wife told him to curse (swear) at God, he refused. He said, “Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil” (Job 2:10). By saying this Job believed it wrong to blame God for his suffering, and he accepted it as part of God’s plan. Job recognized how everything was a gift from God, a gift that could be multiplied or taken away at any time; therefore, he had no right to blame or complain against God. Job was later given great happiness.

Moses was the man God chose to lead the Jewish people out of their slavery in Egypt and take them to the Promised Land. They had been slaves for 400 years, but as soon as they were free they blamed God for everything that happened to them; in response, God made them lost in the desert for 40 years: It can be dangerous to blame God.

In conclusion, remember God knows we suffer, and he hurts because we hurt. Remember also, there is a reason we suffer. In the short term, which can be many years, it might hurt a great deal; however, in the long term, which is forever, the hurt will have no meaning – only the result will survive.

God’s plan for us works best if we trust, and not blame him, because to blame him is to say to God that, we could have managed the situation better, which is absurd: we couldn’t.

To question God about why something happened is natural. There are several examples of this in the Bible, but the key here is submission to God. We can ask him why, and he might give an answer, but whether he gives an answer or not, we must accept God’s decision for our life. This is Submission. God’s answer to our blame is located in Job 38:1 (NIV), where God says: “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?” God is asking who disputes God’s wisdom by blaming him. God says this person is without knowledge and goes on to ask: “Were you there when I made the world? Or the sea? Or the clouds? Were you there when I created the first dawn? Or have you ever walked on the bottom of the ocean? Or has death been explained to you? Can you move the stars? Or can you call the clouds and make them rain? Can you feed the baby bird? Is it you that gives the horse his power?” God’s point is that because we cannot do any of these things, then we have no right to blame God, or tell Him what to do.

A wise person knows to accept God’s plan without complaining and blaming God. Pray for the courage to do this.

God bless you.