When God Lets You Down

What do you do when God lets you down? How do you deal with it? How do you go on?

How do you continue to have faith and trust when God has not come through for you?

Perhaps it’s even harder when you’re a church leader and this happens, because then you still have to preach God’s Word, while you yourself are struggling to find answers.

Have you ever been there? I sure have! And I’ve been there more than once!

So what do you do?

First, I must remember that He is still God, and that I’m not.

This may sound like a cliché but it’s very true. Often I think my perspective is perfectly correct. I think I have all the facts, that I’m able to make perfect evaluations and decisions, that I can figure out all the ramifications of all surrounding events, etc.

But when I do that I’m actually trying to fit almighty God into my box. I’m trying to take the infinite Creator and fit Him into the finite which He created. I’m trying to understand the infinite Creator with my finite mind, using my finite vocabulary, using a finite perspective, with finite vision, all in a very finite time frame. Simple physics tell us that we can’s fit the infinite into the finite. No wonder I always come up short with the wrong perspective!

I have found the story of Job to be very helpful. At the beginning of the book we see God Himself saying about Job that he is the most righteous person on the earth, and yet all sorts of heartbreaking things happen to him. In his agony, despair, and grief Job cries out to God. Job even goes as far as saying he wishes he could take God to court and to prove God was being unfair to him. But when we get to the end of the book (Job 42:5) Job recognizes that his understanding is miniscule, and he repents of having called God unfair. Job recognizes that he used to know about God but now he knows God.

God does not want His children to simply know about Him! God wants us to know Him! God does not want us to have knowledge about Him, but rather He wants us to have a relationship with Him!

The only reason a loving father allows his children to go through pain is so that they will be better. Just think of vaccinations and braces. God is doing the same, but He is molding my character. We do it for our children to have a better life here on earth. Out perfect Heavenly Father is doing it for reasons that will last for all eternity.

Until next time…

Jim