Does God hate me?

Have you ever wondered that? If so, don’t worry—you have company. As Moses recounts the history of the children of Israel, he reminds them of darker days when they had said, “Because the Lord hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us” (Dt 1:27). The text says that their hearts melted when they saw the strength of the nations they would have to fight against.

Maybe you have felt this fear when you looked at your bank account. When life’s circumstances are screaming at you that things will never change, it is easy to wonder if God has rejected us. Job felt this way when he uttered, “He has torn me in his wrath and hated me” (Job 16:9). He goes on to say in v. 11 that God has given him over to the wicked.

Jeremiah was tempted to be mad at God amid intense rejection because of the prophetic word of judgment that he brought. “You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me” (Jer 20:7).

We all go through it!

Every believer goes through some confusion, wondering why difficult circumstances surround us. But in all three of these examples, God comes through.

• The children of Israel take the promised land.

• Job overcomes his trial and is doubly blessed. And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before (Job 42:10).

• Jeremiah is revered in posterity as one of the greatest and most consequential of the Hebrew prophets.

Hold onto the prophetic word

Both David and Joseph, two men who are types and shadows of the Messiah, also went through very difficult trials. Saul chased David for over a decade, trying to kill him, while Joseph was sold as a slave by his brothers and then falsely imprisoned for rape. I am sure there were many days when they wondered if they had done something so bad that God had rejected them. Both of them also had something else in common: they had received powerful prophetic words regarding their future leadership positions.

Often, life will tell you that the prophetic words that God has put in your heart will never come to pass. You have failed. You must understand something about God. He promotes us for his purposes, not ours. And he’s very patient in perfecting our character. Paul describes his salvation experience as a demonstration of Yeshua’s patience, not judging him for being a murderer—“the foremost of sinners”—but choosing mercy instead.

But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost (of sinners), Yeshua the Messiah might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Ti 1:16).

Don’t Sacrifice Your Time with God

I want to encourage you today not to judge God. No matter what your circumstances, put your trust in him. When we go through difficult times, one of the first things we sacrifice is our daily time with Yeshua. I am certainly guilty of this. This is a trick of the enemy because it takes you further away from God’s perspective when you are not seeking him in prayer and the Word.

When David was frustrated over the prosperity of the wicked, he pursued the Lord. It was in God’s presence that he had a revelation. He starts by saying:

But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;

    I had nearly lost my foothold.

For I envied the arrogant

    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. (Ps. 73:2-3)

In the next several verses, he talks about how the wicked don’t have any problems. But then something changes.

When I tried to understand all this,

    it troubled me deeply

till I entered the sanctuary of God;

    then I understood their final destiny. (Ps. 73:16-17)

God plays the long game

I want to encourage you today to continue in faith. Don’t sacrifice your devotional time because you’re discouraged. In fact, that is the very reason why you need to get God’s perspective on your life. And not just on your life, on his entire kingdom. His kingdom is far bigger than any one of us. And very soon, Yeshua will return and set up his eternal kingdom, of which you will be a part.

Yes, there are times when our bank account can bring us down. We might have family issues or a broken relationship. In this life, there are many trials. Trials, James tells us, are not strange but make us strong (James 1:2-4)! God loves you as he loved the children of Israel. He is committed to you as he was committed to David, Joseph, and Job. As you spend time with him, you will begin to see through his eyes. He is not panicking.