Who's at fault?

“Come on brah! Come on brah! Come back!!” These are the cries of a brother as he stands by while his brother took his final breaths before dying to a gunshot wound to the neck. Out of all the voices that I heard this week, this voice spoke louder than any other. At the time of hearing, they were just words but as this week is sinking in I hear the cry and desperation behind them. As I rode around this evening, I kept hearing that young man crying out for his brother not to die and it nearly brought me to tears. What pain he must have been feeling in that moment of complete helplessness, knowing there was nothing he could do to help his brother.

What unfolded next was not a surprise, his pain turned to rage. He began lashing out vocally to all who were in ear shot, blaming them for his brother’s death. Retaliation became his focus. Two days later the neighborhood was rattled by another flurry of gunfire but no one shot this time. (By no means am I saying he is responsible for this)When we lose someone or something we care about we want the cause of the loss to feel the pain that we felt; usually through retaliation.

As I reflected on these things, Daddy (God) began to speak to me.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” John 10:10a

We must see the bigger picture and what God is saying through this moment. We have all experienced loss or pain even if not through death of a loved one. We must first understand that God only gives us good things, not bad but he does allow bad to happen. Look at Job and all of the terrible things that happen, none of them were allowed until God gave the ok to do so. It seems that when we go through things the first one we blame is God. I can be honest and say that I have done this and at the time I felt so right in doing so. And because I felt it was his fault (maybe not all of it) it drove me from him instead of to him. My retaliation was to withdraw from His presence.

Brothers and sisters, I tell you that your adversary is not God!

“I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10b

It is natural to want revenge on the one who caused you pain or loss but that enemy is Satan. This is the most important thing we can realize. Satan knows his end and he wants as many people with him in that end. He comes ONLY to steal, kill, and destroy, that’s his only purpose, nothing good. For every loss or pain that you have had in life it is the devil attempting to steal, kill, and destroy you that you might end up with him. *Let me make this disclaimer: Yes, the Lord can bring pain to our lives to get us back to him but death, sickness, etc are not from God.*

Romans 8:28 says, “that in all things God works for the good…”, not some but all things. At the same time, if we let them, those same things that were meant to work for our good can be used to take us out of that verse by placing bitterness and unforgiveness in our hearts. Satan knows that God can take a bad situation and bring something good out of it so he works extremely hard to distort our view so we will not see as God sees.

In my relationship with Esther, there have been times where we found ourselves in compromise/sin. The guilt lead to repentance…

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10

But along with Godly sorrow (guilt) comes Satan’s sorrow (condemnation). Condemnation blinds us to the grace of God therefore holding us hostage to the weight of our sin instead of the liberty through repentance from the blood of Jesus. God did not cause Esther and I to walk in compromise but as we yielded it to him, he was able to work it together for our good; drawing us closer to Him.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

If we let it, the things that happen that should draw us closer to God will push us away from him. God created us to have emotions, to feel. When painful things happen we hurt, we feel. Just as that young man was hurting as he saw his brother die was real, the pain you’ve felt is real. God knows that and Satan knows that. In that moment they are both battling for your attention; which one will you allow to give you a response? Satan says lash out, retaliate, make them hurt like you hurt. But God says,

“Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay’, says the Lord.” Romans 12:19

“It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:31

“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14

Whether your pain was self inflicted i.e. sin or from the outside let God avenge and fight for you. If it is sin, walk in the grace provided by the cross; if it is from the outside allow the Holy Spirit to comfort you. If you want revenge on Satan, love harder, bless those who hate you, pursue God with greater passion. When you fall into sin, repent, accept the Father’s forgiveness and immediately be about Kingdom business, go bring someone into the Kingdom.
Job faced more pain and hurt in one day than many face in a lifetime. Many would have stood by him if he would have cursed God or blamed God; his wife even encouraged him to do so. But the Bible says, “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” Job 1:27

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17

Be encouraged, we have a Father who does not change like shifting shadows!