If God Loves Me, Then Why Does My Life Suck?

It's really easy to blame God. He's in control of the universe, He made everything, so He should control everything. No. Well, yes, to the first 2 parts and no to the last part. He gave us freedom from the very beginning. When He made the garden of Eden, He put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil right in the middle of the garden, completely accessible to the "naked people". He didn't hide it on top of Mount Everest knowing that the naked people didn't have the proper equipment to reach the top of the mountain, and therefore would take them longer to find it. (my paraphrase taken from Danny Silk's Loving Our Kids on Purpose)
We are not marionettes on strings, controlled by God. He's not up there playing puppets.

God wants deep relationship with every one of His creatures. If we controlled our children and made them love us, we would have no satisfaction in their "love". We would know that as soon as we stopped controlling them, they would not love us. (If this scenario were possible) But if our children truly love us, without being "controlled", how beautiful is that?

Here's a story....

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation and talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.
"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."

"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber.
"I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"
"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside.
"Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens when people do not come to me."
"Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! Because people do not look to God for help is why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

http://www.Spiritual-Short-Stories.com

Here's another story......not sure who wrote this one

Some years ago, on a hot summer day in south Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole that was behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went.
He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.
In the house, his mother was looking out the window. She saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could.
Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed, and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms, just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began a very incredible tug-of-war between the two.
The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go.
A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, took aim, and shot the alligator. Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy Survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. On his arms, there were deep scratches where his mother’s fingernails dug into his flesh; in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.
The newspaper reporter, who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked the boy if he would show him his scars.
The boy lifted his pant legs. Then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, ‘But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Mom wouldn’t let go.’
The Morale
You and I can identify with that little boy.
We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly, and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle, He’s been right there, holding on to you.
The Scripture teaches that God loves you.
You are a child of God. He wants to protect you, and provide for you in every way. But, sometimes, we foolishly wade into dangerous situations, not knowing what lies ahead. The swimming hole of life is filled with peril and we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack. That is when the tug-of-war begins.
If you have the scars of His love on your arms, be very, very grateful. He will not ever let you go.
Never judge another person's scars, because you don’t know how they got them..

We all have choices to make. Every day. We can choose to be in deep relationship with God and search out His plans for our day and follow them, or we can do whatever we want. Your life might be terrible right now. It might not be your fault. You're stuck in a terrible situation and can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. God knows who you are and He knows where you are. He can use you and love you right where you are. You don't need to have a perfect life and perfect circumstances to live a blessed and full and wonderful life. Circumstances come and go, but where our heart is, is where we live. We can't control what's going on around us sometimes, but we can control where we focus our hearts. Let all that is around you become a blur in your peripheral while you focus fully on God.

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.                       Helen H. Lemmel, 1922

If you want your life to be different, turn your eyes upon Jesus. You will be transformed from the inside out and then your life will change. But it starts in your heart. I know that's not what you want to hear. We all want to change the people in our lives and change our circumstances. But it doesn't work that way. So stop trying to change everything and talk to God. If you're ready for this transformation and you really want change, read my blogs about prayer, then read Just Like Jesus by Max Lucado, and read your Bible. If you hate reading, just pray pray pray. If you LOVE to read, then read Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets. It's a deep read and very very transforming. If you want me to pray for you, feel free to email me at fairmaidenwalking@yahoo.ca. Even though you may feel alone in this world, you are not alone. Someone said, "How I feel is not as important as what I know."  Read what God says about us in the Bible, and meditate on those things. Believe those things. They are true. They will hold us up when everything else is crashing down around us.

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5