“And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty… and the Almighty hath afflicted me?” (Ruth 1:20,21).
TEXT — Ruth 1:16-22
Message
Frustrated about the death of an elder sister who battled long with cancer, a young man decided to quit attendance to his local church. His pastor sent several members and elders to encourage him to come back to the faith, but he refused and said, “If God was truly loving and powerful, why would He allow cancer to take my dear sister?” The young man evidently missed God’s nature and character.
Naomi had a similar mindset when she returned to her homeland after the death of her husband and two sons while in the land of Moab. Her family had made a journey out of the Promised Land into a strange country in search of greener pasture, in the wake of famine in the land of Judah. Naomi seemed to infer that God orchestrated her problems.
Are you always blaming God for your problems? Or do you think He is actually to blame when you meet a misfortune? You should never blame or be angry with God, especially when the challenge you face derives from your own mistakes, bad decisions or sins. God is to be feared, loved, praised and worshipped, and not to be blamed. He knows better than you do. It is not godly to accuse Him in a decision you took without asking Him for guidance.
Rather than blame God, we should appreciate that He always clears the mess caused by our wrong choices. Adversity in life should make us draw nearer to Him and cherish Him more. He is in control of every situation, especially when we entrust our lives to Him and allow Him to lead us in the right direction. Irrespective of our peculiar challenges, we should always remember that all things inevitably work together for the good of those who love, trust and depend on God.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
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