This year has been an interesting one as I have had several people come to me lately in various stages of disappointment and despair; they come stating that they have exhausted all means of help. They have reached the end of their search and found that they were ultimately saying “I am completely with out hope.” Lack of hope stems from a variety of reasons one of which I would like to single out at this time speaking of those who are “Disappointed with God.” Rarely will you have someone come up to you and say “I am disappointed with God.” Though I have had a couple, most will not truthfully state the obvious. In their reality God had not preformed to their expectations or satisfied their wants or needs and now they are angry and disappointed in Him.
They at one time or another had placed great hope in God and that which they had hoped for failed to come to pass. Now since they placed hope in God, and that hope failed they place fault on God and are disappointed with Him. The truth being is that the fault is not with God but with their expectations. They know that God has a vast wealth at His disposal and expect it to be at theirs as well. The truth is, God saves us and adds us to that wealth for His use. We are saved for His service, He is not there for ours.
Too often we see the Hand of God moving but never at the pace we would like it too nor in the state of visibility that we want either. He does move and He moves surely and completely. Many of those we try to help expect God’s miraculous healing power and almost demand that it be done in their timing and in their terms.
Some remind me of Naaman the leper in II Kings 5. Asking why do I have to do something? Why can’t God do it all? They go to God and with their Naaman mindset and walk away disappointed. Their approach to the throne of God is prideful and with an heir of entitlement, believing that He saved them and now “owes them.” Claiming Philippians 4:19, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” In their minds, they have rubbed the lamp and the Genie had failed to appear and now they are disappointed with Him. I am reminded of a commercial in Television for a legal firm that claims they can get you the money “owed you.” Their commercial is flooded by people stating “It’s my money and I want it now!” Believers today are much like the people in the commercial but the statement is changed to “It’s my healing and I want it now!” or “It’s my miracle and I want it now!”
When God does not produce the results that they want, it is His fault, not theirs. They become bitter in their disappointment. He did so for others but not for them. Downward they go into the fast moving downward spiral of disappointment and bitterness. Not wanting to face the root cause of their despair and disappointment. We do find that Naaman was eventually healed of leprosy but only after he did that which God had commanded, it was only after his surrendering his will into obedience to God that his answer was received. Yes, he did start out with a spirit of pride and anger and I do imagine that there was some whining involved as well but he surrendered his will to that of God and he was healed. He was disappointed in God but his obedience overcame his disappointment.
The truth is; all believers will experience some disappointment with God from time to time. We place our hopes in God and those hopes will at some time go unmet and we become disappointed. The fault, however, is not with God; if we are honest with ourselves we will see that the fault is with our expectations. God is aware of this and has already provided us help. He does so by providing us an example of this in Scripture. In I Kings 18 we find the story of the return of Elijah. It is here in this chapter that he victoriously calls down fire from heaven to consume his offering to God (Vs 30-39). He slew 450 priests of Baal (Vs 40), prayed and asked for God to let it rain after a 3 year drought and it did (Vs 42-45). Then he out ran Ahab’s chariot back to Jezreel (Vs 46).
We turn the page and go on to I Kings 19, here we find that shortly after his return to Jezreel we find him defeated and running for his life, why? Jezebel, Ahab’s wife threatened him, (I Kings 19:2). Just hours after this great witness of the power of God, his victory over the priests and his answered prayer, we find the believer of God disappointed with God. He went from the top of Mt Carmel to a Cave in Horeb. It is here where he has an interesting exchange with God. “And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ (10) So he said, ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” (Vs9-10) You can almost feel the hopelessness that he is feeling and in those who come to us for help. They have gone through a valley soon after a mountain top experience. They not only feel defeated they feel (as Elijah did) alone as if even God Himself has left them.
How many times have we been called to minister to those who have found themselves alone in that cave of despair? They believe that they are alone in their self pity crying woe is me; God has turned his back on me, He left me out here on my own. They often believe that they were doing all that God told them too and yet state “look where that got me.” They drown out the voice of God with our selfish cries, blaming Him for our despair and disappointment. It is interesting to note again the last part of verse 9 above, “…the LORD came to him, and He said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?” What are you doing here? Did God really not know or was that a question that God was trying to get Elijah to ask for himself? The answer to the question lies within him if he would only ask.
Elijah eventually listens to God when He speaks to him and once again we find that God tells him to get up and move. “So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ (14) And he said, ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.’” (Vs13-14) We see here that God repeats His question to Elijah and Elijah repeats his answer back to God. God questions when He wants us to understand the answer that He gives us. How often God prompts His children by asking questions such as, “What are you doing here?” How often have we strayed from the course that He has for us? One other question, “How often have we given God the same answer as Elijah did?” Disappointment comes when we are stuck in a rut, caught up in the “Why me?” or “Why God?” question stage. Disappointments thrives when you are caught in the spiritual dull drums with no hope in sight; questioning the one who said that He will never leave you or forsake you.
God tells everyone much the same as what He told Elijah, “Get up and get back out there.” Understand that you are not alone, He is with you. He told Elijah to get his focus off of the circumstances and back upon Him and then go back to work. Go back about His business much like the duty of any and every believer; we must be about the Father’s business.
I also need to make note of the Grace of God in that He even took the time to answer Elijah’s complaint that he was the only one left when God assured him that he was not alone (Verse 18). What a loving God we serve, He stands offering us both grace and mercy. God still makes the same promise to us today, we need to move past our pride and move forward. Get out focus off of our selves and move on for God.
To be continued…
