Why Does God Hate Me? How to Keep The Faith Alive In Times of Trouble
Published Oct 26, 2020
Most of us have asked that question at some point in our lives. And if you are having these thoughts yourself right now, no one can blame you.
You see, when life is good and everything is going your way, it’s so easy to see God’s love. It’s easy to appreciate his blessings and even preach about how much he favors us. But when things get rough and life is spiraling out of our control, that conviction is easily thrown into doubt.
If he loves us, why would he give us all this pain? Why would he allow people to suffer? He is all-powerful and he could easily make all my troubles vanish. Yet, he allows all these things to happen to me. Surely, it’s a sign that he hates me.
These thoughts must have crossed your mind plenty of times before. Whenever we are in pain or are going through some tough battles, there is always that assumption that maybe somehow we are being punished for our sins.
Our society is built around the concept of reward and punishment. If you do good, you’ll be rewarded and everybody will praise you. But if you break the law, you’ll be punished. It’s no wonder then that we think that’s how God works too. He rewards us when we adhere to His commandments and punishes us when we do something against His will.
Growing up, I was always told that God will get angry at me when I’m being naughty. When I’m being too loud at church or when I made a playmate cry, my grandmother would admonish me saying that God hates bad children. And when I scraped my knee or hurt myself while playing, I was always told that God is punishing me for my bad behavior.
So, I grew up believing that if bad things are happening to me, then I must have done something that upset God. Instead of the loving, merciful father that He is, I saw him as an authoritarian figure – capable of ruining my life if He wants to. Instead of obeying His commandments out of love and respect, I did it out of fear. I was scared that I’d incur his wrath.
But as I matured, I began to question those beliefs. If God is a merciful God, why would he want to punish me? If he died for me, then why would he hate me?
The Depth of God’s Love and Grace
Contrary to what most people believe, God’s love is not based on a reward and punishment system. Rather, it comes with His grace.
Grace is defined as the free and unmerited favor of God. Meaning, it is heartily given. You don’t have to do anything to earn it. You will receive it whether you want to or not and whether you believe you deserve it or not. It is God’s gift to all of mankind.
God loves you. No matter who you are, where you came from, or what you did. He loves every one of us regardless of our gender, skin color, race, or economic status.
If you don’t believe me, just scan a few pages of the bible. The whole book is filled with stories and examples of the universality of God’s grace.
One such example is when Jesus talked to that Samaritan woman by the well. Another is the story of Mary Magdalene. She was regarded as a sinful woman by the people around her. Yet she became one of Jesus’ greatest disciples. The apostle Matthew was a tax collector who lined his pockets with the people’s money. Even King David was an adulterer. Yet God made great people out of them because He loved them despite their faults.
Why Do People Have to Suffer?
There is a myriad of reasons why people suffer. It could be because they lost a loved one, stuck in toxic relationships, health issues, financial issues, and so much more.
But if God loves us, why would he allow such sufferings?
The answer can be found in this bible verse:
We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. – Romans 5:3-5
With each trial, our characters are tested. We develop tolerance to sufferings and fortitude to pain. We become stronger as do our faith in Him.
For it is in our darkest times that God’s light becomes our guiding beacon. When we have nothing, he gives us hope. When the world turns its back at us, he is there for us. With each suffering, we grow closer to God.
Take for example the story of Joseph, one of the most interesting characters in the bible. As a child, he was betrayed by his brothers and was sold into slavery. While being held as a slave, he was sent to prison because of a false accusation. But in the end, he became instrumental in the prevention of a famine in the land where he was sold as a slave. He even helped his brothers who had been hit hard by the famine.
This is how God expresses his love. He won’t make your path easy. Rather, he will make your journey as difficult as it could get because it is only through such that we become stronger.
So, you see? The sufferings we go through is not a punishment. It’s not a sign that God hates us. Rather, it’s a reminder of how much he loves us.
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About The Author
Judy Ponio is a professional writer and devoted Christian. She has a passion for writing about topics related to morality and helping the poor and homeless. She is the lead author for the Our Father’s House Soup Kitchen blog.
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