Disappointed in God?

I read a crucial book in my spiritual foundation years ago by Phillip Yancey called Disappointment with God. I never wanted to face the fact that God’s actions had disappointed me until I realized how many memories I had stored away of when He hadn’t acted as I had wished.

Prayers that weren’t answered as I had prayed, trust that was placed in my expectations rather than in Him, solutions I thought were best that were inferior to His, plans I had made that were trumped by His decisions: all stored away in the category of disappointments--times that God didn’t act as I had expected.

Whenever a person disappoints us, we generally dismiss it. If it happens often we dismiss them. I cannot count on a person that disappoints me. Their promises mean nothing.

Whenever I have determined God isn’t trustworthy simply because He has operated differently than what I had expected, I categorize Him as unfaithful. Once I have done that, He ceases to be important in my life.

That’s why the most important words in the Model Prayer are: Thy will be done on earth as it is being done in Heaven. In Heaven God’s will is never challenged, evaluated or categorized. It is what it is. If I could ever get that perspective into my life, I could never again be disappointed in God. Whatever He did would be good for me and vital to Him for accomplishing what concerns me.

Only on earth do we challenge God’s right to be God.

Joy comes when we recognize God is faithful. I may be unfaithful but He remains faithful in all He does. Because He is faithful I must let go of my disappointments. I cannot be disappointed in God and expect joy.

Question: Is there a disappointment you find hard to let go of?

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