Disappointment in God

[Chad]

Disappointment in God - September 22, 2005

There are many people who will tell you about their disappointment in God. Perhaps they suffered a tragedy or lost someone close to them. Maybe they prayed a prayer that wasn't answered or hoped for a miracle that didn't happen. But why do some people allow a disappointment to drive them away from God while others take that same disappointment and cling to God all the more?

In 2 Kings 4: 18-28 we read the story about a woman who was disappointed in how her life turned out. After many childless years, Elisha, God's prophet, prayed for her and she birthed a son. But as a youth, this child suddenly died. The woman found Elisha and said, "Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn't I tell you, 'don't raise my hopes'?" (2 Kings 4:28 NIV)

She might have gone into mourning, secluded herself in her home, and never trusted in God again. I can understand those actions. But instead, she searched for Elisha and asked him why he had allowed her to raise her hopes. She wasn't ready to give up until she understood. A miracle happened. When Elisha prayed for her son, he came back from the dead. (verse 36).

Maybe that is the difference. Some people experience disappointment and give up. But it is those who cling to God all the more and keep asking for an explanation, knowing there is one, who see their disappointment change to something positive in their lives.

Please heed the lesson of this Shunammite woman and give your disappointment to God. Don't let anything rob you of a life filled with the joy of knowing Jesus Christ. A miracle awaits you just around the next corner.

Contributed by Candace Simar

 

[Heather-Anne]

Really Good

Oh my god how badly did i need to read this.

I did something really stupid last night and i am so disappointed in myself. I was just flicking throughout the new stuff in tj feeling so bad and i read this.

Yeah it is like so easy to think that the way you feel can make you make bad decisions yeah! and just to stop and think about it is like, 'oh i got to choose which way i can deal with this'

I can be like 'oh who cares' and make even more stupid decisions or i can be like 'ok so i just need to learn more about stuff' and go make better ones

Crikey it was like someone wrote this down just for me to read ha!
Like a letter or something, i was reading it and i just felt really like your friend comes round to cheer you up ya know?

Yeah and like it's not like god is a magician and we can ask for stuff and he has to do it right away-that's not right at all. He might say no to some stuff as well. So we should not be disappointed if he says no or if it is taking to long for us and we are like impatient (like me lol) it is up to god when he does stuff.

Thanks so much Chad

 

[Eve]

Thank you.

 

[Gene]

Amen and amen , just remember God will not put anything on you that you can not handle with HIM. He has purpose of everything ,but we all must keep an open ear so we hear his guidence,and if we pray for something according to HIS will then we will receive it, and have faith for the scriptures says ask and you SHALL receive,knock and it shall be opened to you

 

[patti4jesus]

Thank you Chad for this word. It is so true. I would just like to share what has happened to me. In 1998 I went into a church and prayed to God to please draw me near to Him and show me how to never wander again. My whole life has been go to church for a while, lose interest, then feel guilty and go back again. At the time I never heard of a personal relationship with Jesus. I was saved in 2000 and then my life got very rocky. I clinged close to God...I needed Him more than ever. My family situation went from bad to worse, and I clung harder....for years. About 3 years into it, I started to lose heart. I began to think that I was forgotten. I tried to wander away, but found myself so lonely. God was there all along, and life is alot better with Jesus. I ran back quickly, and realized that I can't make it without Jesus. I also realized that the disappointments that we see are only because God is planning for something better than we can imagine. I am still waiting for that something better, but I now believe with all of me that it is just around the corner.

 

[SpiritLedEd]

Disappointment in God - September 22, 2005

There are many people who will tell you about their disappointment in God. Perhaps they suffered a tragedy or lost someone close to them. Maybe they prayed a prayer that wasn't answered or hoped for a miracle that didn't happen. But why do some people allow a disappointment to drive them away from God while others take that same disappointment and cling to God all the more?

In 2 Kings 4: 18-28 we read the story about a woman who was disappointed in how her life turned out. After many childless years, Elisha, God's prophet, prayed for her and she birthed a son. But as a youth, this child suddenly died. The woman found Elisha and said, "Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn't I tell you, 'don't raise my hopes'?" (2 Kings 4:28 NIV)

She might have gone into mourning, secluded herself in her home, and never trusted in God again. I can understand those actions. But instead, she searched for Elisha and asked him why he had allowed her to raise her hopes. She wasn't ready to give up until she understood. A miracle happened. When Elisha prayed for her son, he came back from the dead. (verse 36).

Maybe that is the difference. Some people experience disappointment and give up. But it is those who cling to God all the more and keep asking for an explanation, knowing there is one, who see their disappointment change to something positive in their lives.

Please heed the lesson of this Shunammite woman and give your disappointment to God. Don't let anything rob you of a life filled with the joy of knowing Jesus Christ. A miracle awaits you just around the next corner.

Contributed by Candace Simar

Chad,

When I read your post, the parable of the wise and foolish builders (MT 7:24-27) came to mind.

Many "believers" walk away from God in time of tragedy. They give themselves over to anger and resentment. Instead of seeking God, they retreat back into the flesh and play the blame game, believing that that will relieve their pain. They had bought into the prosperity gospel, a gospel that says "come to Christ and life will always be sweet", a gospel that is built on sand, and it had failed them. When big trouble came, their faith collapsed and, indeed, "it fell with a great crash."

We need to come against the false message of the "prosperity gospel' whenever and wherever we see it so that new believers' focus can be shifted from the sand of worldly values to The Rock, Jesus Christ.

 

[BeneathRainbow]

I can understand when she asked for her hopes not to be raised, and I can also see that I am looking at the same situation from a different starting point, but whereas you see the miracle of the child coming back from the dead, I ask why were her emotions so cruely played with?

 

[Eve]

When I lost my first husband, my suffering felt like hell on earth but I EVENTUALLY came through that a changed person perhaps the Shunammite woman did also. I had an empathy I didn't have before. Initially I was very angry, he was only 24 years old when he died in '97, it seemed like such a waste. GoldenGirl is his daughter. He was too good for this world. I would like to think that one day I will join him in heaven (if they'll have me)! I now know however, that I will need to cling to God all the more to become enlightened enough to get there.

 

[loveyoubones]

Well it is easier said than done and I think it depends on the situation. My mom and I have been through this as my brother and her son killed him self. My brother was raised as a christian excepted Christ went to church and all the above. When you loose a love so deep it is hard for one to understand how they could get mad at God and fall away. My mom and I have been up and down a lot with God. The thing is as we fell away God did not leave us behind. We did not have to chase him down he pulled us back in his own little way. Just because someone walks away from God. It dose not mean they are gone forever. The last thing you should feel is ashamed or guilty for being mad at him and leaving him and regretting the past. Feeling this way will keep you farther apart and that is what Satan wants.

 

[HisFollower]

Very well said. Another good example is Job, who through much trial and disappoinment still concluded that, even if God were to slay him, still he would trust in God. So it is with us, because our Lord was a man of grief, and we, if we truly follow Him shall also experience the same. But we must needs already know this, that if we are to live godly in Christ, we shall suffer for it, and it is not optional; but by suffering for the cause of right we know that we are living godly. As for tragedy, we must conclude, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; Blessed be the Name of the Lord.