In the past couple of years there has been such a terrible outrage over abuse, particularly the abuses that women and children have suffered in many parts of the world, abuse is a terrible thing and should be roundly condemned, one thing we have learnt is that anyone can be subjected to abuse and so I am wondering why nobody is talking about the abuse that God suffers at the hands of men.

You may think ‘really’? can God be abused, I mean he is God, how can God be abused? God, creator of the heaven and earth, really?

I think He can be, In fact He is being abused daily all over the world, if we understand what abuse basically is.

Abuse is essentially misuse, mistreatment, inappropriate dealings and to deal with somebody or something in a manner inconsistent with decency and respect.

God can be abused, many times he is a silent victim, not because he does not have the power to engage his abusers but because in His dealings with humanity, he often endures abuse in the hope of bringing redemption and help to his abusers, that is not to say that if His abusers do not reconsider their ways they will not be caught up in the consequences of their misdeeds.

Imagine Jesus the word made flesh, the One by whom all things were made, enduring such unimaginable sufferings in the hands of his abusers, yet the scriptures say

‘’Like a lamb before the slaughter he openeth not his mouth’, meek and gentle to the cross he went, he had a greater vision, the salvation of even his own abusers.

Abusers are broken people, who seek to inflict their brokenness on others, God understands this and endures his abuses but for a season, then there is retribution sure and certain.

How do people abuse God?  In so many ways,for example people attribute to God acts of malevolence and wickedness which He is very much not the cause of, in my home country, Nigeria, we read of armed robbers who often visit fake ‘Churches’, and religious establishments  seeking ‘God’s’ help for successful robbery expeditions which may oftentimes end up with terrible loss of lives.

People do stuff, terrible things and say ‘God told me to do it’, the abuse of the God is even more terrible when it is perpetuated by people who are supposedly close to him, ministers of the gospel, leaders in the Churches and Christian folk, I think this supports the notion that people who are often abused are abused by people close to them.

What about when people destroy the works of His hands in a careless intentional manner, deny His claim over his creation and do so with an ‘in your face attitude’?  I know that some people may take offense at this but abortion (particularly that which is not an outcome of a life saving procedure) is abuse; it is destruction of God given life for selfish reasons. In fact if you will ask me, it is even what I will call aiding and abetting an enemy, Jesus said ‘ the thief ( satan) has not come but for to steal, kill and destroy, all who engage in this despicable practice not only abuse God but aid the enemy of their souls.

People who abuse others indirectly abuse God who created man in His image, every sin or wicked deed against our fellow human beings is a sin against God.

Today people clamor for justice for the abused and accountability for the abusers and so it should be, God too will one day receive justice for all the abuses he has suffered and requite justice to all who have been perpetrators of the abuse.

Human court and justice systems are fallible, often the rich and powerful may escape justice, but the divine courts are perfect, no one will escape justice, human courts are fallible and sometimes the guilty may be let off due to some legal technicalities and sometimes too the innocent are wrongfully convicted but in the divine courts all the guilty will be convicted and no innocents can be wrongly convicted.

Abusers may seem to get by with their abuses for ages until their crimes catch up with them, while some may never be convicted by a human court, We can be assured that no one will get by with the abuse of God, sooner or later all God abusers will answer for their crimes.

I saw a Great White Throne and the One Enthroned. Nothing could stand before or against the Presence, nothing in Heaven, nothing on earth.  And then I saw all the dead, great and small, standing there — before the Throne! And books were opened. Then another book was opened: the Book of Life. The dead were judged by what was written in the books, by the way they had lived.

Rev 20:11-13 (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

However as despicable as abuse may be, abusers can be forgiven, their brokenness healed and relationships restored, this is what the gospel offers; healing for the abusers and the abused.

In a sense we all are guilty of being abusers of God to one degree or the other, we can receive forgiveness and mercy through Jesus Christ and just as God is left unchanged by the abuse He suffers through the cross of Jesus He offers healing even to those who have suffered abuse at the hands of men.

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1 Cor 6:9-11 NIV

If we are guilty of God abuse, we must repent before God and ask for His mercy, He is merciful and gracious.

An abuser asked a very important question

What must I do to be saved?

The answer coming from one who was once himself an abuser

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and your household

Acts 16:30-31

Will you do so?