STEVE JOHNSON BLAMES GOD

                              

             Wide receiver Steve Johnson of the Buffalo Bills has been incredibly good this year.  Even though he is young and inexperienced, he has emerged as one of the top receivers in the league.  Last Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was an incredibly close game.  It went into overtime and both teams had multiple chances to win.  On the Buffalo Bills' last drive, their quarterback threw a deep pass to Steve Johnson in the end-zone.  This pass was the epitome of perfection.  Johnson had no one close to him and it was placed perfectly in his hands.  All Johnson had to do was catch the ball and the Bills would have made an astonishing comeback win against a very good Steelers team.  Instead, he missed it.  Johnson dropped the pass and the Steelers ended up winning the game.

            Wide receivers drop passes all the time.  Not all are as significant as this one, but it happens.  This is just a part of the game.  Most fans and players could have moved on from this, especially since the Bills are not a good team this year, but the comments Johnson said on his twitter account have struck a nerve with many people.  This is what he said, "I praise you 24/7!!!!!! And this is how you do me!!!!!  You expect me to learn from this???  How???!!!  I'll never forget this!!  Ever!!! Thx tho...."

            Again, wide receivers drop passes all the time, but I have never heard anyone else actually blame God for it.  He even seems to throw a little sarcasm at the end as well.  There are many factors Johnson could have blamed the dropped catch on.  He could have blamed it on the lights, lack of practice, and even himself.  Instead the blame was thrown on God.

            It is too bad that Johnson reacted in this way, but thankfully he has since retracted this statement.  The problem is, people do this every single day.  People throughout the world go through terrible difficulties and many of these same people conclude that it is God's fault.

            Often in Scripture we see people suffering.  One of the most devastating accounts is of Job.  Job lost 1000 oxen, 500 donkeys, 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 1000 oxen, and all his sons and daughters (10 total) in one day (Job 1:13-19).  Not long after this he also lost his health and had sores and boils all over his body (Job 2:7).  To top it off, even his own wife turned against him and told him to "Curse God and die!" (Job 2:9).  However, no matter what Job went through, not once did he curse or blame God (Job 1:22; 2:10).

            Suffering happens to people all over the world.  Job was a very faithful man and he still suffered greatly.  People seem to be under the mindset that if they are faithful and praise God, then bad will not happen.  God has never promised this.  We are just people.  God is supreme, all-knowing, all-powerful, and almighty.  Do we really ever have the right to blame God for anything?  Does praising God automatically mean He will give us blessings?  Too many people blame God for their misfortune, but God should never be blamed.  We must keep in mind God's words in Isaiah 55:9, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thought than your thoughts."  We simply do not know why many types of suffering happen, but one thing is for certain, we should never blame God, nor do we have the right to do so.

 

--   Brett Petrillo