that's not my god

It's no wonder people don't want to know God, when other people are blaming him for killing 17 year-old boys.

It's no wonder people don't want to know God, when He's being blamed for worldwide disasters and all evil in the world.

It's no wonder people don't want to know God, when people say "I have to stay in this marriage because of God".

It's no wonder that the God of Christianity has such an awful image in our world. It's His name people use when they want to justify an action, blame a wrongdoing, or use as crutch for ethical dilemmas.

Just this morning, George Zimmerman told the entire world that him shooting a young man was "part of God's plan" and he wouldn't handle the situation any other way. Never mind the fact that I was already on high emotions for the week, I just about reached through the television and slapped the man across the face. Obviously, I've got some more work to do on the grace side. (See, it just happened again...I used Christianity to downplay or disregard a righteous emotion.)

The simple words of his disgusting statement may not mean much to many, and to some it may just sound like another religious dufus using God's name as a mask, a shield, a weapon to justify his own destruction. But I am a child of God and know that this was never, never ever God's plan for any of us.

I will be the first to tell you that God has brought struggles into my life to better me. I am an ever-changing, always growing woman because I have accepted the transformation call that comes from walking with God. I've gone through some difficult times that make me adjust, swap, tune, and reform my attitude and thoughts. Yes, some of these times have been zero fun and I've asked God why He had to choose that or do it then.

HOWever, I do not believe, even for one moment, that God created me, formed me in my mother's womb, and made a plan for my life just so that I could suffer, go through pain, and have to be changed every day for 100 years. It's the fact that we've been turning away, hoping for more, and trusting only ourselves that leads into a life completely different from what HE planned.

I do believe that God will bring justice and punishment to a world that is torturing and abusing one another, but I do not believe that this was His intention when He made us.

It's no wonder that people don't want to know a God who is blamed for murder, death, evil, and hate, but it's a shame that they don't want to know the God I know, the God who saves, loves, heals, and rescues.