I’ve had some thoughts weighing on my heart and mind lately, centered around the questions: “What did God do to you?” and “Did God do it?”

Did God say that hurtful thing to you?
Did God gossip about you behind your back?
Did God walk away from your friendship?
Did God leave you out?
Did God ignore you?

So often, when people do these things to us, we respond by walking away from God. We leave the Ark of Safety—the Church. We stop praying. We grow cold, distant, and indifferent toward God. But the truth is, God was never the one who hurt us. So why do we blame Him? Why do we take it out on Him?

Romans 5:8 (KJV) reminds us,

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

John 15:13 (KJV) says,

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

And Romans 8:38–39 (KJV) powerfully declares,

“(38) For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
(39) Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

These verses are a beautiful reminder of God’s unfailing love. He chose us. He brought us out. He forgave us. He filled us with His Spirit. Christ died for us. He did all of this because He loves us—more than we could ever comprehend.

God gave people free will—the freedom to choose between good and evil. He’s not a dictator. And just as we have that freedom, so does everyone else. That means when someone chooses to use their free will to hurt us, it is their decision—not God’s doing.

So again, I ask: when others cause us pain, why do we blame the One who never stopped loving us?