How easily we tend to play the blame game. If things aren't going right in our life - if we are experiencing a particularly troubling time or a time of what seems like unusual hardship - what do we do? Where does our mind and our thinking go? Most of us look for someone or something to blame, and most of the time, we are looking in all the wrong places.
Consider this:
It is time to pay the monthly bills and you find you don't have enough money in the bank to pay them all.
Your thoughts:
My job doesn't pay enough - cheap company;
My house payment is too high - mortgage company's fault;
Utilities are too high - power/phone/water company's fault;
My car payment is too high - auto finance company's fault;
Gas is too high - Government/Oil company's fault;
Credit card bills too high - credit card company's fault - they charge too much interest;
The price of everything is just way too high - these companies are just out to make larger and larger profits - crushing folks like me - "the little guy."
Any of this sound familiar?
The truth: Look in the mirror!
We know how much money we make - we agreed to accept that pay rate when we took the job;
My house payment is too high - did we buy a house we could afford or did we buy one to impress?
My utilities are too high - do we use our utilities wisely and conservatively or do we have lights on in every room of the house - even is there is nobody in the room? Do we have three televisions playing - and nobody actually watching any of them? do we have the heat turned up - but are wearing shorts and a t-shirt?
My car payment is too high - Did we buy a car we could afford or one we liked and just plain wanted?
Gas is too high - did we go to the grocery store yesterday, the post office the day before and Wal-Mart the day before that?
Is it just barely possible that the reason we don't have enough money to pay the bills is our own fault? Is it possible the one we should blame is our self?
But, I am a child of God - why is he allowing me to go through this stress month after month? Why won't He help me out of this difficult situation?
Question is - did He help you into this situation? Did you seek his guidance when buying that house - when buying that car - when charging all that stuff on your credit card? Did you pray about any of these purchases before making them? Let's be honest here - the answer is almost certainly - NO.
In Psalm 119:67, David says, "Before I was afflicted, I went astray."
OK - you are not the only one to cause yourself hardship through your own bad choices!
God loves us and does not wish hardship for use, not does He cause any hardship for us. But, He will allow us to go through hardships in order to teach us. Notice in Psalm 119:71, David goes on to say, "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn your statutes."
In our example here - financial hardships - we can learn to seek God's guidance in our stewardship of the financial blessings we receive. This should apply to all areas of our life - we should be continually seeking God's guidance.
Who are your blaming today?
