Can You Forgive God?

Can You Forgive God?

It sounds like a bizarre question but it’s a very real one. Tragically people live their lives harboring resentment towards God. Mad at God for failing to live up to their expectations. Angry at God for allowing something to happen. Disappointed with God for His failure to answer certain prayers. Blaming God for the dark memories of life. Some have an outward smile pasted on their face and say some wonderful things about God but inside there is a clenched fist tucked away in the backroom of their heart. It’s a miserable way to live even one day of our lives, not to mention the possibility of going to the grave that way.

 
If a reporter had ever interviewed Moses at the end of his life, the dialogue might have gone like this:

 
Reporter:

“Moses, will you take some questions about your life? You encountered major disappointments and hit some very rough spots on the road. You were blindsided by unanticipated events. Life threw some nasty curves at you. Have you ever forgiven God for some of those things?”

 
Moses:

“I beg your pardon? ‘Me’ forgive God? The wonder of my soul is that God would forgive me. Why He ever noticed me in Pharaoh’s palace and chose to use me, I’ll never know. I am so unworthy. I’ve had many failures and I am sure I’ve disappointed my God many, many times.”

 
Reporter:

“But didn’t God promise you great things if you would follow Him? Didn’t He promise you deliverance and the privilege of leading His people from bondage into the Promised Land? But what a bunch of whiners, complainers, grumblers and rebels they were!  How many whisper campaigns did they launch against you during those years in the wilderness? Aren’t you even a little bitter against God for giving you such an unruly and difficult pack of people to lead? If it hadn’t been for their unbelief you could have been in the Promised Land years ago. They’ve been such an obstacle. You’ve suffered personally because of their collective failures. That has to be a bitter pill to swallow.”

 
“To add insult to injury, God then blocked you from setting your feet inside the Promised Land. That must have come as the biggest blow of your lifetime. Here you were, looking forward to the new land; trying to keep the people focused on the new land and all its opportunities. And then, because you lost your cool one day and smote that rock (Numbers 20:9-12), God punished you by cancelling your entrance to the Promised Land. After all, who wouldn’t have lost their temper and slammed the rock with all those people being so annoying! You probably felt like doing more than smiting a rock!”

 
“But today is your 120^th birthday – do you have any reflections to share? Have you forgiven God?”

 
And Moses said to them:

"I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in.

The LORD has said to me, 'You shall not go over this Jordan.'

Be strong and courageous…

It is the LORD who goes before you.

He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you.

Do not fear or be dismayed."

"Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew,

like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb.

For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God!

"The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice.

A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

(Deuteronomy 31:2,6,8; 32:1-4)

 
What an amazing speech to make at the end of one’s life. Moses obviously fully surrendered to God and acknowledged Him to be the One who is always right and never wrong. Always ‘just’ and never unfair. Always true and never failing to see the big picture. Always good – never bad. Greatness not smallness. Reliable and consistent and always purposeful and perfect. The Rock.

 
May we surrender to Him today; confess our bitterness; bow before Him; and thank Him for not only noticing us but for saving and keeping us.

 
Can you forgive Him? Can you trust Him today - implicitly and completely?