Martha Olawale

“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone, but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:13-15

My life has certainly not always been a bed of roses, but neither has the life of anyone I know. I’ve not always made the right choices, and I don’t know anyone who has either. You work through Earth’s roads, toiling to make ends meet, and you dare not blink; otherwise, you might lose it all. You work to nurture your relationships so you don’t get drowned in loneliness and emotional turmoil. If you ask the wealthiest humans if they believe they have everything they want and can sleep without worries, their answer will most likely be, ‘Absolutely not.’

This chain of demands puts every human at loggerheads with making the right choices for themselves while considering how it affects others. At some point, we do things that set other people up to trip, even when the intent is different. But this can lead to painful circumstances in your life or the lives of others. And while God is our maker and wants us to have the fullness of life, we fall short because of our broken nature.

In denying our responsibilities, it’s easier for us to pile the loads of the misfortune of our broken human conscience on God. However, we can’t blame God for man’s failure and our poor choices. 2 Peter 1:3 says, “His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” He (God) gave us EVERYTHING pertaining to life and godliness; what we do with His gift is our responsibility, and the repercussions are ours to own. Our lives are a spiral of choices and often interwoven with other people’s choices. Although there are a million and one unexplainable occurrences in our lives, most of our daily consequences are directly related to choices we or others make.

Trust me; there are days I want to wiggle my hands toward Heaven and point my accusatory fingers at God, screaming, why? Why is death a thing? Why is there so much pain? Why do things look blurry sometimes, and why is the world unbalanced in many ways? While we might never hear an audible response echoing from Heaven, our souls know better. God is a good God who gave it all for humanity through the death of Christ. He is the only good in our existence, and as long as we keep doing things our way, we can’t blame God. Despite our resistance, He is gracious, patient, comforting, and merciful. He receives the lost with open arms and wipes the tears of the weary away.