At The Feet Of The Shepherd: Caution: When speaking 'to' and 'about' God

I recall two specific incidences in my early Christian walk when I was discouraged and disappointed, and angrily told God what I thought about it all. Basically, I felt He was allowing hard things to happen to me, setting me on a pointless search to know more about Him. I did not say so much that it could be outright equated to shaking my fist at Him, but I did do what most people say it's okay to do: 'express myself'. Expressing myself was nothing more than ultimately expressing disappointment in God, as if He had failed me. And I will never forget the quick and very clear rebuke that I received from God in both cases. Both incidences occurred at night and He dealt with both within hours. I was actually awakened at night for one of these scourgings. Let me tell you, He didn't shout at me, He didn't hold me at my collar and shake me about, but the fear of Him that fell upon me - with a clear understanding and conviction of my sin - was dramatic. And I am so thankful that He loved me enough to set me straight, and did not allow me to go on thinking that I could 'express myself' in any which way towards the Most High God.

Too often, Christians believe that being persecuted, tested, or suffering gives us the right to 'be human', to have 'slips of the tongue,' to 'express ourselves' against God. When we complain against God, we demonstrate unbelief, pride, and little true knowledge of Who He is. Furthermore, we commit sin.

It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
Jude 1:14-15, ESV

Harsh words against God are not okay.

“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’”

Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.
Malachi 3:13-17, ESV

The above Scripture quoted from Malachi has serious and sobering implications. It describes a time when different people were living under the same difficult conditions. Some spoke against God among themselves; on the other hand, some feared Him and their conversation proved it. Did you notice how God "paid attention?" He not only intently listened to what they said, but He also recorded it in a Book of Remembrance, and proclaimed a future for them that was glorious, in which they would not be judged with the faithless. They were totally covered by Him. There is no record that situations changed for these righteous ones right away, but He most certainly spoke of a coming day when the distinction between those who spoke and what was spoken, would be made evident to all.

When we speak against God we may be delaying our own deliverance, but worse than that, if this sin is not repented of, we are most certainly storing up wrath for ourselves.

Job was tried and tested as, I believe, relatively few men have been. The magnitude and timing of the calamities that assaulted him seem unbearable. One thing came after another, for no apparent reason.

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
Job 1:20-22, ESV

Wow. Job did not use his words to express 'self.' Job expressed humility, submission, faith, and worship. Job laid the cause for His calamity at God's feet in that He saw it as God's working, yet He did not blame God. Therein is a difference that we must learn. 'Blame' is more than acknowledgment, it is accusation.

There is a right way to express our sorrow and complaints to God, and to share with Him that we don't understand His ways. But there is a never a right way to express complaints or lay blame against a holy and perfect, Most High God. He has proven Himself trustworthy and faithful to even the most afflicted men, such as Job. There is no fault in Him. To speak as if we have found fault in Him is to blaspheme the Most High, the Judge of all the earth. Before a Person of His magnificence and power, take my word for it, humility is the only way that works out well on our part.