horton

It's very human to want to blame God for our troubles ... or to blame anyone but ourselves. It's hard to take responsibility. To do so usually requires ... from a Christian perspective ... to understand that we're sinners. That is difficult for us humans to admit, but we can only get close to God by admitting that. I believe that takes maturity. As young people (under 30 years old?), it's hard for us to understand we're sinners and that we're not as great as we think we are. As we mature and as we start seeing all of the little ways that we fail God or the people around us and how hard it is for us to change those bad "habits," then we begin to get a better understanding of the human condition of sin. Then we are better able to blame ourselves instead of God or our boss or our spouse, etc. I'm 42 and have been through that maturation process myself. Certainly, God can use our troubles for good, and God can ALLOW us to have troubles, but I don't believe he causes them. God is love, and I don't believe he would purposely cause trouble in our lives. But a loving God allows the consequences of our actions to play themselves out.