Re: ANGRY WITH GOD? NEVER!

What ever happened to going and getting what you want? The idea that you could
get mad at some being that you've never seen, spoke to or even received an
e-mail from it crazy to me.

praying to a god and hoping they will grant what you wish... what about working
to get what you want? Even if you carry a Christian faith on your shoulder isn't
there a passage somewhere that says "god helps those who help themselves"? That
says something to me. This Christianity faith wants you to work as well as pray
for what you want.

What?!?! Work for it!!!

Yes, work for it. And guess what. This is the real world with billions of people
in it. Chances are there are at least a few hundred people asking and working
for the same thing you are... and in most cases not every one of them can have
it. So someone loses out.

It's not that some god didn't give it to you... It's not necessarily that you
didn't work hard enough... It's just that it wasn't your turn. You weren't in
the right place at the right time. What ever the case may have been... it was
CHANCE.

That said, I'm not saying don't pray, but rather redirect the focus of prayer.
Use it as a meditation, a time to focus and refine your wish rather than a
request for maintenance form that you drop in some higher power's mail box that
you hope they'll get to sometime soon.




--- In religiousdiversity2@yahoogroups.com, Bayo Afolaranmi
wrote:
>
>
> Dear Beloved,
> ANGRY WITH GOD? NEVER!
> "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though
the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep
in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will
be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet
like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights" (Habakkuk 3:17-19,
NIV).
> As I was coming out of the US embassy after the third consecutive visa
refusal, I was embittered. What really went wrong? Did I not pray enough? What
of the prayers and prophecies of hundreds of people towards the success of this
visa interview? What of my numerous fastings? Does God not answer prayers again?
Why did He deprive me of overseas trip for further studies these three times?
These thoughts were making me to be angry at life and with God. Is He still
worthy of my praises and worship? Then the words of Habakkuk came to my mind:
though God does not "answer" my prayers and there might be no visible evidence
of His care, yet I will praise Him!
> The book of Habakkuk portrays God as awesome, yet Habakkuk was complaining
about why the wicked prospered while the righteous suffered. It seemed God did
not acted as he had expected. Yet he concluded his prophecy with praises of God
because he knew that there was a benevolent God behind the seemingly unpleasant
circumstance. He would rather rejoice in the Lord than to be angry with Him.
> Job, in his anguish praised God. Why? He remembered in his pains that God's
purpose is always good. Hear him, "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him…"
(Job 13:15, NIV); "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will
stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I
will see God…" (Job 19:25-26, NIV); and "But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold" (Job 23:10, NIV).
> Have you been asking God to do something for you but He seems to be delaying
it? Are you thinking of abandoning your initial trust in Him because of this? Do
you doubt the worthiness of His praises and worship? Are you also at the point
of being angry with Him for this? Never think so!
> The psalmist boasted of God's care, "Even though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your
staff, they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4, NIV), and Solomon also said, "When calamity
comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous have a
refuge" (Proverbs 14:32, NIV).
> God has a purpose in your pain. This purpose is always good. The grief may be
divinely arranged to re-examine our desires and reveal His better plan to us.
Turn your anxiety to Him. He will prove Himself to you. He is still God. He is
worthy of your trust and worship. Angry with God? Never!
> In His service,
> Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).
> NB
> This message was first posted on July 19, 2004.
>
> Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).
> +234 805 515 9591
> http://www.thewordthruthenet.org/
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spiritualdigest2003/
> http://www.facebook.com/bayo.afolaranmi
> Visit and become a follower of http://thewordthruthenet.blogspot.com/
>
> I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will
> have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted
> in my body, whether by life or by death. FOR TO ME, TO LIVE IS CHRIST
> AND TO DIE IS GAIN (Philippians 1:20-21, NIV).
>
>