“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Psalm 18:2 NKJV

Because of these interesting and unusual times, many people are disappointed and are at the point of giving up. Most, if not all of us, had plans and high expectations for 2020 that didn’t materialize. It has left some of us frustrated and bewildered in spite of our many blessings.

This present time reminds me of a book I had to read and outline in seminary, “Disappointment With God” (Zondervan Publishing House, 1988) by Philip Yancey. The book deals with a crisis of faith. Why is it that we doubt God when He doesn’t meet our expectations? Why does He seem to be silent during our most vulnerable moments? Does He even exist? Does He even care? These are some of the questions addressed in the book.

I found the book interesting because it examines questions that most of us have had or will have about God during our lifetime.

Life has so many twists and turns. Things happen to us that we never expected or desired. Loved ones that we thought would be with us forever die unexpectedly. We lose a job that we depended on. We are diagnosed with an illness that threatens our lives. We experience a divorce. Our child becomes rebellious and unruly. We have to drop out of school. We have an unplanned or complicated pregnancy. We are involved in a horrific accident. We are left jilted at the altar.

These and many other scenarios happen every day in someone’s life. Things that they neither planned nor saw coming. Why would God allow them to happen? Why is it that my plans failed? Any of these situations can cause one to question God, doubt Him, and become disappointed with Him.

God never sets us up for failure or to be disappointed. He loves us more than we could imagine and only does what’s best for each of us. Disappointments come from our misunderstanding of God and His ways. They are also hatched by our preconceived ideas and assumptions about God.

God never promised us that our plans would prosper. What He does promise is that “His plans and purposes” for our lives would prosper (Jeremiah 29:11) and that He would direct our steps (Proverbs 16:9). God wrote what would happen in each of our days before we were formed in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:16). He knows the experiences it will take for us to fulfill our purposes and live out our destinies.

Everything that happens to us, whether it seems good or bad, works together for our good. For example, in the movie “The Shack” (Summit Entertainment LLC, 2017), Mack, the main character, had a faith crisis when his daughter was abducted and murdered. Through this painful experience, which led to an encounter with God, Mack learned how to forgive. 

He forgave the man who abducted and murdered his daughter. And he also let go of a grudge that he held against his father since childhood. But, most importantly, he fell in love with God, the Father despite of the pain and disappointments he had to endure.

My friend, no matter what happens in life, we must trust that God is taking us on a safe journey, one that will lead us to a hopeful future.

Will you allow God to steer you around the rough terrain and through the boisterous waters of life? He is more than qualified to take you safely to your destination.

Declare…

Lord, even though I can’t always make sense of the things that are happening in my life; I won’t try to figure it out, I will leave the results to You.

Posted by on Wednesday, October 21st, 2020 @ 10:00AM
Categories: Empowering, Encouragement, Inspirational
Tags: crisis, despair, disappointment, expectations, Faith, forgivenness, trust