Nov 9, 2012
A Promise For Those Disappointed By God
Disappointed by God
Maybe you have longed for healing, a job, a baby, a wife.
You have faithfully and earnestly prayed for weeks and months — even years.
But you are still sick, still unemployed, still childless, still single.
And you are disappointed. In fact, you are disappointed by God.
I Can Relate
For many years my wife and I longed for pregnancy. We longed and prayed. And longed and prayed some more.
Couples we knew got pregnant — but we did not.
And we felt deep disappointment.
But God’s Word calls us to live by faith. And faith means trusting all that God promises to be to us in Christ Jesus.
So — what does God promise when we are disappointed?
Lack No Good Thing
One promise that’s helped me over the years is Psalm 34:10 —
The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
This promise is for those who seek the Lord — those who are saved by faith in Christ and are seeking to know God.
And God promises that those who seek the Lord will lack no good thing.
Which means that if something is good — God will give it to you.
Now that’s hard to swallow. After all, you are still sick, unemployed, childless, or single.
So how is God fulfilling that promise to you?
The Greatest Good
What helped me understand this was to ask — What is the greatest good?
Here’s what David said —
I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” Psalm 16:2
And Asaph —
Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You I desire nothing on earth. Psalm 73:25
And Paul —
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Philippians 3:8
So the greatest good is God Himself — knowing God in the person of Jesus Christ.
This is not just knowing about God. This is actually knowing God. This means to feel His glory, sense His love, experience His presence.
When we experience God in this way, we are so full that we desire nothing else. God is the only all-satisfying good, which is why he is the greatest good.
So what does God mean when He promises we will lack no good thing?
Healing can be good — but so can lack of healing
If God is our greatest good, then what makes something good is whether it brings us more of God.
So being healed of a sickness can be good since it can bring us more of God by showing us His power, mercy, and goodness.
But not being healed can also be good since it, too, can bring us more of God by bringing us even more nearness to Him.
That’s what Paul experienced with his thorn in the flesh —
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2Cor 12:9)
So if God chooses not to heal me, it’s because sickness will bring me even more of His all-satisfying presence than healing would have brought me.
In that case, even though I’m lacking healing, I’m not lacking any good thing — because the sickness is how I will experience the most joy in God.
Since God is my all-satisfying Treasure — then what makes something good is whether it brings me more of God.
So when God promises that we will lack no good thing, He means we will lack nothing that would bring us more of God and we will have everything that would bring us more of God.
So if you lack healing, or a job, or children, or a wife, you are not lacking any good thing. Because God has ordained this to bring you even more of himself.
Why Am I Disappointed?
When I feel disappointed by God it’s because at that moment there’s something I’m longing for more than him, whether it be healing, employment, a child, or a wife.
But as good as healing, employment, children, and marriage are, none of them will come close to satisfying me as much as He Himself will.
So when I’m disappointed by God there’s a problem with my faith. I’m not trusting that God himself is who he says he is for me in Jesus. I’m not trusting him as my all-satisfying Treasure.
So what can I do?
How to Overcome Disappointment?
Here are steps I have found helpful —
- Come to Jesus Christ with your disappointment, trusting Him to meet you and change your heart (Psa 40:1-3).
- Confess that you are longing for something else more than Him. Ask Him to forgive you through the Cross. Receive assurance of complete forgiveness (1John 1:9).
- Plead for the work of the Spirit to change your heart, strengthen your faith, enable you once again to experience Jesus Christ as your all-satisfying Treasure (John 6:35).
- Since the Spirit does His work through the Word, find Scriptures describing God’s love, power, and majesty — and promises concerning God as your all-satisfying Treasure. Pray earnestly over these Scriptures. Fight to trust them (Gal 3:5).
- Continue praying over and trusting these Scriptures until you feel the Spirit changing your heart and you once again experience Jesus Christ as your all-satisfying Treasure (1Pet 1:8).
- Pray over God’s promise that He will ordain every trial to bring you even more heart-satisfaction in Him (2Cor 4:17). Do this until the Spirit strengthens your faith that whatever you lack will bring you even more of God.
- Also pray over God’s promise that He will take care of everything else you need (health, work, money) in such a way that it will bring you even more of Him (Phil 4:13; Phil 4:19; Mat 6:33).
- Continue to pray for the other things you desire (healing, employment, children, marriage), but fight to keep trusting Jesus as your all-satisfying Treasure (Psa 43:4).
How did this impact you?
I’d love to hear — leave a reply below. Thanks.
If you know someone who feels disappointed by God, email this to them using the “share” button below — or use the other buttons to share this on your favorite social medial.
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And here’s some related posts you might find helpful —
How To Be ContentWhat About Unanswered Prayer?How To Sanctify Your SorrowWorship Christ as Your Treasure (4-Min Video "Knowing You")How Jesus Frees Us From Fear (4-Min Video -- With French Fries)
(Picture is from everystockphoto by APatterson.)
Hey Steve,
A lot of folks are disappointed currently because their candidate didn’t win the election. I believe we can acknowledge the disappointment of unanswered prayer, but we don’t have to own that bitterness, as Paul said, he was constantly sorrowful (the cost of sin,) yet always rejoicing! Our hope is not in this world, no man, or government is in ultimate control of our happiness, or destiny.
“for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’…
…I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.”- Isaiah 46: 9-11
Who’s will is truly free, God’s or mankind’s? And who’s will shall be ultimately fulfilled, man’s or God’s? Because both cannot be in control. God is sovereign over all things, even whom shall govern as President of the United States.
It all comes down to what we will trust in for our heart’s satisfaction, and what will be the anchor for our soul.
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”
Thanks, Paul. I always appreciate your encouraging thoughts.
And it seems to me there’s a difference between being disappointed by a situation and being disappointed by God.
Disappointment in a situation can be good and holy — there’s a sense in which God Himself felt this (regarding Saul, for example).
But disappointment in God is not, because everything God does is just and true.
Onward, brother!
Steve
POWERFUL!!! Thank you for sharing, Steve!!!! I keep hearig the words of a brother from Home Group – “I have to keep chewing on God’s promises until I can taste them.” Such a great picture of why & how we should persevere in His promises. Too often, I stop focusing (“chewing”) on a promise, because I think, “if the Lord was going to meet me in this moment, He would’ve done it by now…” So I tend to go in search of whatever I think can bring me second-best satisfaction, and I settle for that. But my movie/tv show/book/friend cannot promise “fullness of joy” or “pleasures forevermore” like God does in Psalm 16:11. Thank you for pointing us to the Truth, and giving us a better understanding of this fight of faith that we live in!!
All I can say is — WORD! I can fully relate to how easy it is to move on from chewing on God’s promises — to second-best satisfactions.
Thanks for how clearly you put this — it’s very encouraging.
Blessings,
Steve
Steve:
I really enjoyed your post this morning. The Lord has blessed you with a real ability to share the real hurts that we have- and the solutions to those hurts.
I have copied and printed this post to be a constant reminder of the promises God has to my disappointments. It is a good reminder that sometimes our disappointments are used by the Lord to cause us to run toward him. This reminds me of my favorite quote from C.S. Lewis… ““God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world”
Thanks again for your blog. Keep up the good work- the Lord is using your words to encourage my heart.
In Christ,
Ron R.
Thanks once again for your encouraging words, brother. And I am thrilled that this post was encouraging to you.
Steve,
This post is a blessing to me. It got me thinking and gave me such a crystal clear understanding of the way God works in and for us. In the end, all He wants is to give us the gift of eternal life…at whatever cost. As you said “what makes something good is whether it brings me more of God.”… this was my a-ha moment.
My family and I are in the midst of the trial of unemployment brought about by the injustice of others. My husband was the sole breadwinner and we have 3 girls- one is severely disabled. During the last 4 months I can say we have grown to love and serve God more than we ever did. The truths that we have unearthed in His Word serve as both a comfort and wise instruction so that we can joyfully navigate this ‘light affliction.’ I can say that through it all He has provided for our needs in just the right time.
At times I get discouraged and anxious as I think about what will happen if we lose our home and cannot meet our bills…but with this post I have been encouraged and enlightened.
Please pray for us as we seek God’s face and strength during this time. Thanks so much for this post.
God bless!
Rhonda
Hi Rhonda,
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your encouraging story. What a testimony of God’s faithfulness to you — and to His grace giving you strength to trust Him.
I love how you explain the truths God has made real to you and your family during this hard season. (And I love how you call your trials “light affliction.”)
I will pray right now for God to provide even more grace and faith, along with wisdom, provision, and a job for your husband.
And please keep us posted on what God does.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Great article Steve & very encouraging!
I just tweeted this recently which is along the same lines as your thoughts here …
“I used to believe it took very great faith to be healed by God. Now I believe it takes much greater faith to not be healed by God!” @purisomniapura
Oh by the way Mr. Fuller, I shared this article on my FB page & sent you a friend request too:)
Thanks so much, Kathleen!
That IS a powerful tweet, Kathleen. Lots of wisdom there. And thanks for letting me know that this article was encouraging to you.
This is the kind of teaching the church so desperately needs in order for us to be good soil that the word goes in deep & actually produces a crop. The opposite teaching, the message that everything should go perfect if one has enough faith prepares us to be rocky ground so that when difficulties come, we’ll flee from God, His church & the gospel, because we haven’t understood it aright. Yes, please feeding CHrist’s sheep with these kind of messages that help us grow deeper in trust when everything around us seems to be failing.
Out of my stony grief
Bethel i will raise
So by my woes to be
Nearer my God to Thee
Nearer to to Thee.
thank you brother Steve, this is another practical blog. I dont want to experience that bad weeks again,
it happen somehow that i lost the joy of my salvation, maybe because of the difficult situation i was into but i later found it through much crying in prayer and my heart was fill with His joy again.
Beloved God may delay to prove your heart and to know who are. delay to prayers always strengthen my prayer life because i am strongly convince that Jesus remains the ultimate solution to my predicaments. if i should be offended in Him for a moment, that would make me less than ZERO! HE IS MY JOY!
Thank you for sharing your testimony, Ebenezer. “Jesus remains the ultimate solution to my predicaments.” Perfect.
Steve,
What? Are you saying it’s not all about me? Of course you are not because Jesus went to the cross all for me, because of me.
On the other hand, although I struggle with my vision, when I keep my focus on Jesus then I can endure the disappointments knowing that it’s truly all about Him.
Brian
You do have a creative way of putting things, Brian 🙂
So what you are saying is that it’s actually NOT about me, right? That’s it’s actually all about Him.
And that’s right on the money.
But isn’t it also true that having it be all about Him is what’s best for me — because He is my all-satisfying Treasure?
So it’s not all about me — in the sense of bringing me things I desire which are less-satisfying. But it is all FOR me in the sense of bringing me more of what will truly satisfy me — God Himself.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts — I always find them encouraging, thought-provoking, and helpful.
Yes, it’s truly only about me in my legendary ego.
Sometimes I cannot imagine how His plan can be for my best, e.g. as look to the future of the country I love. Although, I believe that is small in the grand scheme of disappoints I have lived through.
But, Romans 8:28 is true even without me knowing why or how!
Hi Steve,
Just an update on my situation.
I was able to secure a temporary job which doesn’t pay enough to cover all our bills but we’re thankful for it. My husband is still unemployed.
He wrote the new Board of the company he was illegally fired from and they have refused to even give him a hearing or listen to the advice of their own lawyer who advised them that the company was wrong. Such injustice and callousness is heartbreaking to say the least.
In the midst of this disappointment, I re-read this post so that I could re-focus and be comforted and assured that this is all part of God’s plan to provide and allow what is good for us.
Please continue to pray on our behalf, that our faith is strengthened and that we remained committed and focused on God’s promises.
Thank you so much for the update, Rhonda. I am glad you found a temporary job, but will pray for your husband to find a job quickly — AND that the Father will strengthen, comfort, and deeply encourage both of you in Himself.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Hey Steve,
Good News! My husband found part time employment and I have been given a 1 year contract with my current job. Our combined incomes are just enough to pay the bills and a little extra. God is so good!
We were very close to foreclosure in February… but God! He provided some funds through a family friend which covered a large chunk or our mortgage arrears!
Then 2 weeks ago our family was selected for further processing as part of the US Green Card Lottery for 2014! We are just amazed at how God opens doors, windows and crevices that no man can shut.
Please keep us in your prayers that we will seek out God’s perfect will in our lives and that we will trust Him to provide all that we need for the opportunities He will present to us.
Steve, I am committed to posting updates for people out there who may read this article and are looking for hope and encouragement amidst their struggle to understand God and His the way He works.
My message to you out there…God LOVES you! Trust Him with your life! He will not hold back any good thing from you… He will not betray the trust you place in Him. Even though things look grim and bleak, He is there willing to rescue you from whatever pit you may fall into. I was once a skeptic but now I’m a firm believer in who He is and in His unconditional love for me.
Hi Rhonda,
What encouraging news! And thank you for posting your update here so others can read and be encouraged.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Didn’t help but appreciate the good post. Problem is the bullets are a bit simplistic. Its one thing to say give it all to God via text. Its much harder when God won’t take it or at least meaningfully deal with it. If God won’t help I’ll turn elsewhere until I get it. I didn’t ask to be born, didn’t open my mothers womb, and consequently cannot see the justice in love me or be tortured forever. I wish we had a third option of simply being destroyed and knowing leave from His little games. Anything less than happiness is false advertising, and to answer pain with silence is a psychotic, abusive “father”
Thanks for your honesty, Joshua.
I don’t know what you have been through. And it’s hard to express my heart through words on a web-page. But I’ll try.
It’s true that you didn’t ask to be born. But think about who God is — a being who has always been with no beginning; who has infinite power and flawless goodness and perfect wisdom; who is full of joy in the fellowship of the Trinity; and who chose to display His love and mercy by creating a universe and people to whom He can give the wonder of knowing Him, loving Him, worshiping Him.
And knowing that people would rebel against their Creator, part of God’s plan was to send His own Son to earth, to become fully man, and then to suffer excruciating pain on the Cross and die — so justice could be served, and we could be forgiven and restored to God. And then God raised Him from the dead, and we can know and trust Him now.
You are right that those who continue to rebel against this Perfectly Loving God will face His justice and be rightly punished forever.
But what God holds out to each of us is forgiveness through the death of His Son, and the all-satisfying joy of knowing and trusting Him.
This does not mean painless lives. The Bible is clear that believers will suffer greatly. But the Bible is also clear that in His perfect timing God will meet us so powerfully in this suffering that it will all be worth it.
As you turn to Him, trusting Jesus, He promises to meet you. And no matter what losses you have experienced in this life, the gain of knowing Christ Jesus is worth them all.
I don’t want those just to be words. Like I said, I don’t know what you have suffered. But I do know what God says, and I have seen Him powerfully meet me in the little suffering I have had. I long for the same for you.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
What justice is that then? What crime, especially one that a human can commit, is reasonably punished forever. I simply see nothing sbout God worth loving. I cannot bring myself to disbelieve in his existance but I surely will demand accountability and reasonable treatment even from the big guy. At best it has never motivated me beyond primal fear of punishment. Ill probably go back to forced obeisance for lack of real choice bit I refuse to call it anything but extortion. Ironically given.how my father ruled my life with fear maybe Heavenly Father is appropriate.
Again, I appreciate your honesty.
Questions are good. But at the same time, I would encourage you to ask with humility — admitting that we do know very little compared to him, that our wisdom is flawed, that He is infinitely glorious and loving. And humility would also be appropriate, given that Jesus came to earth and suffered to save people like you and me — when we did not deserve this at all.
And I also have struggled with your question about how a finite human action can deserve infinite punishment. What helps me is to understand that my finite sin dishonors an infinitely glorious God. Which makes my finite sin infinitely wicked. So — since the punishment must fit the crime, my finite sin deserves eternal punishment.
I think many of these questions will be answered most satisfyingly when we stand before Him and see His infinite glory, majesty, power, goodness, wisdom, and love. Then we will SEE how eternal punishment is just, and will SEE how loving and merciful He has been to offer us salvation.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
I
have been very disappointed with God.I have been struggling very hard for so long, I can’t believe I am even writing this and considering trying again.
However,I believe that God exists,and that Jesus came and died and was resurrected to save us from hell.I just haven’t been able to understand how that helps with the here and now.How can I be affected by a beauty I can not see.How can I know God in the person of Jesus when Jesus left here 2000 years ago and I never met him. How can a lifetime of abuse and rejection be mitigated by love that has to be taken on faith. How does it matter how much He loves me when he remains unavailable. How can I find my all satisfying treasure in a God that is unavailable. How can I not look to the things of the world for at least temporary satisfaction when they are all that IS available.
I hear you saying that praying and meditating on scripture together with the work of the Holy spirit is the solution. That makes me feel hopeful again, but also very afraid. each time I look to God for love, affirmation and intimacy I am terribly disappointed and have a really hard time finding any faith or trust again. I have never even heard him say my name. but I want to. It doesn’t matter what you trust in for your hearts satisfaction if it doesn’t deliver. promises mean nothing until they are kept.If the only hope is what will happen after I die then I need to get busy and die
Hi Roy,
Thank you so much for sharing your story. I am encouraged that you are considering trying again.
You raise some crucial questions, like “how can I be affected by a beauty I cannot see?”
First of all, God’s Word promises that we can. I see that in 2Cor 3:18 and 2Cor 4:6 and other passages. When we turn to God as we are, not relying on any goodness in ourselves, and trust Jesus to forgive us, change us, and satisfy us — He changes our hearts so we are able to see His glory.
This does not mean seeing something visibly, or even in our mind’s eye. It means we see the beauty of who Jesus is as revealed in God’s Word — and the Holy Spirit will make His beauty real to us and all-satisfying to us.
So what this means for me is that I regularly take time to open God’s Word, ask for the Spirit’s work in my heart, and pray over verses describing God’s glory as revealed in Jesus. Sometimes when I do this I feel nothing — but I take heart from promises like Psa 42:5 which address that situation. But much of the time I do experience the Spirit helping me see and feel Jesus’ glory.
This is what Jesus promises (in different words) in John 4:13-14; John 6:35; and John 7:37-39.
I hope this helps.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Awesome and uplifting and full of hope. This message helps me to keep on keeping on. The Scriptures help a lot. Thanks and praise be to God!!
You are so welcome, Chuck.
This blog has been a huge help to me. Thanks!
Thank you for letting me know, Brianna!
Thank you for your blog. I am a former children’s ministry leader, wife of a former youth pastor. We did the Lord’s work for 3 years, started many ministries in our small church, and impacted many in our community. However, we were under the leadership of a pastor who was committing an act on a regular basis that was not consistent with how a pastor should act. We felt it was not okay, and my husband confronted him biblically, but our church did not hold our pastor accountable, and in fact, decided that my husband no longer needed to be the youth pastor. Therefore, I gave up my position as well and we left. Our very worlds were turned upside down. Many times, in our minds, the church is a representative-supposed to be- of God, and when church hurt occurs, it is easy to feel like the hurt is coming directly from God. I know this is not the case-I know that it was not His plan for us to be hurt in this manner.We have now been attending a new church for 6 months where the people are very nice, have been very welcoming, but are content with where they are spiritually, and not looking for anything much deeper. The pastor is very young, and on fire, but having to fight the elders a little to do anything. I feel like this whole experience is hurting my faith. I just want a deeper relationship with God, but I still feel so disappointed. My husband and I both long to be in ministry, and feel we have been blessed with many talents, gifts, and leadership skills, but have no outlet at this time to use them. We are seeking God and trying to find His will through all of this. Your blog did help encourage me, thank you for this. I completely identify with your statement, when I feel disappointed with God it is because I am longing for something more than Him. I did and still do recognize that my ministry became bigger in my life than God was. I am truly trying to make God the biggest and most important thing in my life once again. I want the joy of my salvation back. I have moments where I am great, and God pours out His spirit on me, and then my moments of struggle, where I don’t know where He is. Please keep myself and my husband in your prayers. Sorry for the long post. Thanks.
Hi Tish,
Thank you so much for sharing your story. I am sorry for the hurt and struggle you when your husband have experienced.
But it is so encouraging to see you fighting to trust Christ through this.
He loves you, he will be faithful to his promises, he will restore to you the joy of salvation, and one day you will look back and thank him For these trials, because you will see how he has used them to bring you even more joy in him.
And I will pray for you right now. In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Everything you so is not true there is hope he do not answer prays I know. I begged I prayed I go church I asked begged for just a little help but instead I am lot worse now and things getting worst I will lose my home my job my car everything so asking begging just fall on deaf ears or does he just HATE ME
Hi Steve: I have just read the article A promise for those disappointed by God. I am very disappointed in God. I was a licensed dentist who practiced for the past twenty years. Through a feww poor decisions, I lost my license to practice dentistry in Nov 2011. In order to regain my dental license I will need to take and pass a dental licensing exam. I have been trying to take and pass this exam for the past three years (once each year) and each time I fail the exam. I have prayed, fasted, tithed, taken communion, repeated scriptures, praised the Lord publicly and have tried my best to control my tongue. I just got my results today and I failed again ( I need a 3 to pass, I got a 2.96). Is God alive? Does he care at all what I am going through? My family lives now in a roach infested rental home and my daughter and wife are experiencing what I believe of psychosomatic illness brought on by the stressful situation that we are living in. I understand that God wants you to experience him and that he is the greatest good, but how does that help me to repay me debts, take care of my family, be an example of success and perserverance to my family as well help other to go to heaven through my financial support of various christian ministries. I am very confused. What would you advise me to do?I need help now, not when I am dead and gone? does the bible say anything about getting help and assistance NOW, not when one gets to heaven? Thanks!
My life has been ripped to shreds. I have been praying for two and a half years for God to do one great thing for me…bring my husband home. I’ve lost so much else as well…my career, finances, family, friends, dreams, children. I owe thousands in student debt. But it’s him, my husband, I so deeply want and every day, my heart breaks. I too have prayed, fasted, and truly worshipped God. I even told others that he would come home because of God and they, pastors included, ridiculed me for it. Here I am, alone on yet another Christmas Eve, still waiting on God.
I have repented and sought His will. I no longer believe God will help me here. I’m terrified that I will now spend the rest of my life alone, always wishing God would help my husband and he would return.
I’m telling you this because I know what it feels like to have life turn upside down. I have asked God to forgive him and turn him back to Him. I don’t understand why God is silent with this or why he deceived me into truly believing that He would bring him home. I don’t know why my entire future must be destroyed. What have I done? Is my prayer too much to ask? Or am I just not that special?
I have learned that a God is more likely to answer small prayers, not the big ones. I have also learned that we have to remember that God created us to worship Him….not to fulfill our dreams or make our life easy. We really are here to serve Him. It’s a tough pill to swallow but true. He may not help you with this or me. He may take even more from you when you aren’t looking. He is a jealous God who will take away from you if He feels it takes away from Him. No, the Bible just says He will provide us with what we need…which allows us to serve Him and what our needs are is up to God, not us. He CAN give us our desires but it doesn’t mean He will. As far as you wanting to be successful for your family, I imagine God feels that is making you put something else before Him. I’m not sure that God even answers every prayer until we’ve died. Then, of course, the unanswered ones clearly become “no’s.”
Churches today tend not to preach the truth. They don’t preach that it’s ALL about God. They don’t like to say the hard stuff…like God takes away, remarriage is adultery, sometimes God is silent, etc.. They make it sound like once we turn to God, them BOOM, he comes to help us and puts our life back together. But Job never got his family back, people die homeless on the streets who love God, and so on. We are here to serve Him. It’s not easy. True faith is still following God even when He isn’t answering your prayers. It’s the ultimate test.
“Healing Spiritual Abuse-How To Break Free From Bad Church Experiences” by Ken Blue. There is something worse than suffering the loss of EVERYTHING at once – The lies and malicious rumors your “friends” at church spread about you. If you are a threat to leaders who are abusive or blasphemous, you are labeled (A) unable to respect authority, (B) troublemaker, (C) drinking or drug user, (D) are insane. Ever heard of Joyce Meyer? Her church kicked her out for OBEYING GOD. Lost all her friends. In my case, although I did nothing wrong, I had GUILT and shunning (yes, shunning in a Baptist church) and victim blaming dumped on me. The whole time they vehemently defended the most evil acts by several people. I completely left the church and am seriously so full of distrust I can’t even force myself to have friends anymore. If you left a cult type church, read “Recovering From Churches That Abuse”, by Ronald Enroth. The emotional and spiritual abuse I suffered was so bad, it affected my trust in God Himself. If you have this level of pain, please remember Jesus was betrayed and abandoned by everyone He loved. Jesus knows your pain. Be honest. Tell Him how furious you are that God didn’t prevent it. After all, God already knows.
I can’t express how grateful I am to have found your site. In just the last 20 minutes of reading 2 or 3 blog posts I feel so encouraged and renewed again.
Your articles have helped me admit out loud to myself and in prayer that I’m not as satisfied in Christ as I want to be. I spend all my spare time reading the bible, encouraging myself and trying to share my testimony and my life never seems to get any easier.
I’m unemployed, single, childless and I have superficial health problems like acne and premature greying (I’m only 32) that really make me feel unworthy to attract a mate. The truth is, the only positive thing in my life is God and I don’t know how to make new friends without feeling like a pity case because compared to most people – I don’t have too much going for me as the world would see it. It does get me down and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed in God for leaving me in this situation….
So thank you for reminding me that Jesus is the only one who can satisfy our heart before anything or anyone else.
Please pray over me if you read this & God bless you and your wonderful ministry.
how does it matter if Jesus is the only one who can satisfy our hearts if He won’t either? How can you trust Jesus to satisfy your heart if he never has? How does it matter if Jesus knows your pain if he does nothing to relieve it?
Roy,
Ive been asking those same questions lately more than ever before. If you ask those questions to many christians they simply point the blame right back at you. I also find myself wondering how I am supposed to feel better knowing God hears every prayer even though they go unanswered. My faith is waning because my heart is broken and despite doing all the things listed in the article and more (praising, worshipping, fasting), I am left horribly disappointed, heartbroken, angry, confused, lonely, ignored, and increasingly tired of seeking God and His will only to continue to feel all those things!
The difficult thing Ive had to learn is that its just not about us. We exist to serve God. God is the farmer/shephard and we/our lives serve a purpose for Him. If we follow Him, we are rewarded with Heaven. I dont believe our lives here are of much significance to God. Beyond that, the only way I can understand the many broken Biblical promises that we experience is to see much of the language in the Bible to be poetic and that the promises are not the rule, but the exception. Not all mountains will be moved, not all prayers will come to pass, not all hearts will be mended. Why? Because, again, our purpose is to serve God. We may do a better job of that while broken.
Thank you for your thoughts, CS.
I would encourage you that God has never broken a promise. We might misunderstand them, but he has never broken a promise, and never will.
Yes, he does allow his people to go through some very hard times. But even this is talked about in the Bible.
Please keep trusting Jesus Christ, and seeking your all in Him. He has a beautiful plan for you, and will comfort and guide you.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Okay am a graduate last yr with very good grades that everyone expects m to b employed by now but unfortunately been home this whole tym .have gone for 6 interviews but e results has been e same ,I always wonder what i do wrong .case is all my friends r now employed so u can imagine e situation total blow for me ..
Hi everyone!😊
This topic can go extremely deep but I want to answer Ahluwalia Phina…I know your feels concerning you and a job that hasn’t manifested yet. Question, did you ask GOD HIS PERSONAL PLAN FOR AHLUWALIA PHONE? Maybe HIS plan place and purpose for YOUR LIFE is not same as YOUR plan place and purpose. I see you post this June 2016 so prayerfully God has open doors for you but if its still same…your life being stagnant…WE are so caught up in doing what makes us happy not realising God has something totally different for us. I could tell you my story but its to long aND clock time too late but I will say this, we save ourselves a lot of unnecessary heart aches, disappointmen’s etc…If we ask God FIRST THEN AFTER ASKING PREPARE YOUR HEART BECAUSE HIS PLANS FOR US ARE ALWAYS GOOD AND HE WILL BE GLORIFIED IN THEM BUT SOMETIMES EVEN IT BEING FROM GOD..THAT’S ALWAYS GOOD BUT NOT WHAT WE WANTED. BUT AS IN MY CASE I WOULD PRAY SINCERELY FROM MY HEART TO ALWAUS PLEASE GOD “WHATEVER” IT TAKES. THAN HERE COME THIS PLACE OF NOT BEING COMFORTABLE IN MY COMFORT ZONE ANY MORE SO I END UP STEPPING OUT OF IT INTO A PLACE CALLED TRANSITION..NOT ONLY FOR TAKNOWING ITS GOD YAHWEH ORDERING MY STEPS
ITS GOOD
Opops sorry typo last sentence but I was saying ask God to ORDERING our steps IF WE WANT TO PLEASE HIM…LET HIM SHOW US OUR PURPOSE ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN. WE SAVE OURSELVES SO MUCH HEARTACHE AND DISAPPOINTMENT BY ALLOWING GOD TO BE GOD OVER AND IN US.THESE LAST 5YRS OMG…I was taken out of my 50 yrs comfort zone and by age 50 God has basically torn down everything and everyone around me…it took my3yrs of much praying and asking God…she me why I am being punished..God says His ways and thoughts are not like ours…believe me…HE IS SO VERY RIGHT. I PRAY BY NOW YOU HAVE FOUND THAT PLACE HE HAS SPECIFICALLY FOR “YOU”!
Blesing will follow you in all you do for God😊
BLESS you!!
This was great I am very disappointed by the things that I asked God for and I feel like he did not provide them but I look at it from this perspective view and it all makes sense I was longing for something more than longing for Him. I had not realized the sin in this. Thx for helping me to see this. Please pray for me on my journey in this season!