"Lucy! You got some 'spanin to do!"
Of the roughly seven and a half billion people on the planet, roughly seven and a half billion of them have some reason to be mad at God. In my conversations with people who have a grudge against God, I've pretty much found that their reasons are valid. All kinds of shitty things happen in and around humanity, and if God is All Powerful, All Knowing, Always Present, loves us the way the bible teaches that He does, and if He is the Deliverer, Healer, Father and Savior that He claims to be, ...
Well, He's got some explaining to do.
Frankly, Christianity, with all 2,000 years of devout study, doesn't really have a good explanation (in my opinion). I don't want to get into the details of the, "If God is God, why do bad things happen to good people?" question just now (if anybody needs me to, I guarantee you that I am capable, it's just not where I'm headed at the moment). But I want to acknowledge the question as part of my Gay Christian math.
And I want to make two rather bold assertions concerning the issue:
First, It Doesn't Matter. God is God whether I approve of Him or not. He is not going to abdicate His position just because I don't like him. My negative attitude toward Him can and will keep me from understanding anything having to do with Him and from experiencing the benefits He offers, but it will not impact Him in any way.
I know that is a cold, mathematical premise, and doesn't address the heartache and pain that so many people have endured. I also know that the issue of being mad at God must be transcended before we can experience relief or resolution to the seemingly meaningless, painful events of life. I know that the latter is a process, not an event, and I think I can help with that process.
Second, God Is Not Uncomfortable With This Conundrum. He overcame it with Job, Habakkuk, Jonah and Jeremiah in the old testament. He can overcome it with you if you'll let Him. Hint: Keep in mind that the issue for a blind man is not, "Why am I blind?" it is, "How can I see again?" The issue for a slave is, "Where is Freedom?" God is a God who heals the hurts of His people, and makes broken hearts whole again. He has done that for countless others throughout history. He is competent to do that for you too. Being mad at Him or demanding answers to the 'Why' questions are only distractions to that process.
The gay world has for years been aggressively attacked by the very people who should have been reaching out with His love. I understand that. I understand that the gay community as a whole legitimately hates the Christian community and, by extension, the God that it is supposed to represent. I get it. The demonizing light in which the gay community has been portrayed is a social and religious injustice, and should never have happened. I agree wholeheartedly.
Now, let's move beyond that. Let's transcend it, and go forward. It is less than a week until Christmas. Let's see if we can make Christmas happen all over again.