The Bible promises us endurance and joy; it promises us otherworldly strength; however, they often feel like empty promises. God filled His word with Biblical assurance for endurance, but when your knees hurt from kneeling and your heart still feels empty, confusion is a natural response. In this season of waiting for His promises to become a reality, we choose one of three paths. We choose to blame ourselves, blame God, or blame the timing.

Blame Ourselves

I am guilty of blaming myself when I don’t see God working. Blaming anyone other than myself feels immature. Condemning God feels disrespectful; blaming others feels entitled, but blaming myself feels safe. It feels unoffensive. We feel better if we blame ourselves because we’ve trained our brains to think that we are always at fault. The inner critic never fails to blame us, so it’s a natural response to blame ourselves. But God says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1 NKJV).”

God does not condone self-blame or recommend wallowing in your faults to the point of depression. He is a God of growth, progress, and healthy change. Don’t blame yourself; blame the sin inside you because you are not your mistakes. God does not define your worth by your sin.
When we don’t see God’s promises coming into fruition, it’s easy to blame our number of mistakes. I often fall into this trap. I listen to the voice which says, “you can’t feel God’s strength because you’ve fallen too far from Him.” God’s power is not weakened by our mistakes.

Of course, the more we choose to scroll through Instagram instead of reading our Bibles, the easier it is to forget God’s truths. But the enemy wants you to forget how close God is, so you forget how not alone you are. God is accessible to any willing heart, no matter the number of mistakes.

Blame God

Another reaction to God’s unfulfilled promises is to blame God. When there is a disconnect between what God says He will do and what it looks like He has done or has not done, anger is a natural response.
I felt confused and frustrated. I so desperately wanted the situation to improve, but my every attempt proved unfruitful. Calling out to God, I quoted His promises, questioning His faithfulness. I wanted answers as to why He had left me, hopeful and eager, only to disappoint me.

“But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”

Romans 9:20 NKJV

Blaming God shows a lack of trust. In my season of waiting, I assumed God left me to learn some unknown lesson alone. It felt like He was up above, looking down, laughing as I cried.

God was my fair-weather friend. Studying my Bible, listening to worship music, praying over every minute detail was easy when distractions were slim. It was easy to be close to God when I saw how close He was to me. But when I was too depressed to get out of bed and too anxious to focus on His promises, I only saw what God wasn’t doing. The disconnect was too prominent and distracting for me to see where God was. My distractions clouded my vision so that I couldn’t see more than God’s shadow in my life. I saw only the dark side of Christianity. My eyes were fixed on the wreckage I was wading through instead of the savior wading beside me with outstretched arms.

When we can’t see God working, when His promises seem void, remember His past victories. It wasn’t until my view changed that I saw a relationship change. I saw God as some vindictive and legalistic being above me, high in the heavens, untouchable, inaccessible. God adjusted my view of Him. Now I see God as a friend, sitting beside me, wading through the daily muck alongside me. No judgment, only a trustworthy friend.

When God seems like the one to blame, remember how He rescued you in the past, how He spoke to you in the past. Remember that God is not looking over your shoulder, laughing at your mistakes, yelling at you for your mistakes. Remember that He is trustworthy. He is a friend nearby at all times.

Blame the Timing

Instead of blaming ourselves or blaming God, we are called to remember God’s timing. Remember that God cannot speak untruth. Whatever He says becomes the truth because God is truth (Numbers 23:19). There is no question of if God will fulfill His promise. He is faithful. But the timing of fulfillment is determinate on God’s plan.

When you begin to lose hope, blame yourself, or become angry with God, remember to remain patient. His timing is perfect, and until your season of suffering passes, God’s promises for a better day will strengthen you and feed your hope. His promises are the assurance of blessings ahead.

Until next time,
-Alycia