The man preaching yesterday morning preached on properly responding to tribulation and trouble in life. He had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer last year, even though he’d never had a lifestyle or been in an environment that would have caused it. This is the part that stuck out: He said it doesn’t matter what caused it, he’s just learned to accept it. It wouldn’t help him to know. It wouldn’t fix anything. Finding out what caused it in his case would only be to seek what to blame. If it were actually someone’s fault, then finding out might give him the opportunity to forgive, but otherwise it does nothing for him.
So that got me thinking. I like to find the root cause of just about everything, but how often am I merely searching for someone or something to blame, and not the solution to a problem? How often am I expending time and energy on finding out the cause when it won’t do me any good? At what point do I stop searching and just move on?
It takes some effort and discernment to figure that out, especially when you’re at a loss and are very hurt. But remember that God is there. He knows what’s going on and why, and we don’t have to know. Sometimes we wouldn’t understand anyway if we did know. Looking for a cause is not necessarily wrong, but looking for a place to cast blame can be. When it’s time to stop looking, let God handle things and help you cope. Just walk side by side with God. It’s not usually easy to let go, but it gets better when you do.