God had failed.
A woman, lying in her bed. Alone again. Crying herself to sleep because her husband had finally left for good. How many times had her prayer group prayed with her for her husband and her marriage? How long had she held on to faith that her marriage would be restored only to watch it end in tragedy?
God had failed.
Two parents watched as their adult, prodigal son continued to spiral out of control. Sinking deeper into a life of crime and substance abuse. Despite all the counseling sessions and meeting with their pastor. Despite all the times the prayer group had surrounded them and encouraged them with prayer and intercession....
Still God had failed.
As you read these fictional, yet all too real scenarios, you have more than likely reacted in one of two ways. The first group was ready to stone or crucify me for blasphemy and heresy. The second group of people have immediately been taken back to a time in their lives when they've asked the questions, "God, where are you? Why have you failed me?"
If you have ever suffered. If you have ever experienced a setback. If you have ever prayed a prayer that wasn't answered, then chances are you've asked similar questions. The good news is that you are not alone.
Jesus was a man with a mission. He spent the last three years of his life moving towards one goal--the cross. However, in Mark 14:36 Jesus prayed a prayer, "Father....please take this cup of suffering away from me." But guess what? Jesus still was crucified on the cross. Even while He was on the cross Matthew 27:46 tells us that Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"
It is baffling to me that Jesus himself could pray a prayer that wasn't answered or that the very son of God could feel abandoned by His Father. But in all of this we have to ask one very important question.
Did God truly fail Him? Did God abandon His own Son?
The quotes above from Jesus encourage me, because it shows me that it's not a sin to feel abandoned by God. It's not a sin to ask why God has failed me. The problem comes when I fail to move beyond my immediate situation (as terrible as it may be) and fail to humble myself and learn the true character of God.
One of the most encouraging scriptures for me is 1 Corinthians 13:8. Love never fails. The Bible tells us that God is love, and love comes only from God. So we could easily substitute "God" in place of "love" and say that GOD never fails. The other encouragement I get from this sentence is from the second word "never". It is an extreme word. It is an absolute word. If we are to believe that the whole Bible is true then we must believe that God NEVER fails.
If that's not enough for you, let's look a little deeper. Look at what David said:
The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand. Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread. ...
The LORD rescues the godly; he is their fortress in times of trouble. 40 The LORD helps them, rescuing them from the wicked. He saves them, and they find shelter in him.
[Psa 37:23-25, 39-40 NLT]
If you are a fully-devoted follower of Christ then you are "the godly". And if you are "the godly", then you can be encouraged that God will NEVER abandon you, but he will delight in every detail of your life. He will rescue you in times of trouble, he will direct your steps, and you can ALWAYS find shelter in Him.
That still doesn't answer why we have to suffer. Or why my prayer wasn't answered.
I get it. I wish that every prayer that I prayed was answered the way that I desired. Remember Jesus' prayer in Mark 14:36? There was a part that I purposely left out until now. Yes, Jesus did pray, "...please take this cup of suffering away from me." But that's not all of the prayer. Then he prayed, "Yet I want YOUR will to be done, not MINE."
Jesus understood that there was someone greater then Himself. He understood that there was a greater purpose that must be accomplished. Most of our errors in prayer happen when we only pray for God to do what we want and what we think is right, but fail to ultimately surrender to His will and His purpose.
To truly know and understand God's character, you must understand these verses from Isaiah 55.
"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
[Isa 55:8-9 NLT]
God has plans and purposes that we will never understand. Does that mean He has failed us? NEVER. If anything, it means that we have failed to fully surrender our ways to Him so that He can fully reveal His character in our lives.
If you are a follower of Christ you WILL suffer. You can't escape that. And guess what? That is part of God's will for your life.
2 Timothy tells us that any who wants to live a Godly life will suffer. Hebrews 5:8 tells us that Jesus himself had to suffer in order to learn obedience.
John 15 is a powerful chapter. It paints the picture of God as a gardener. It then goes on to describe how God will prune (cut back, even cut off) areas in our lives, so that we can produce the fruit that we were desired to produce. The most fruit is produced only on the branches that are pruned. Pruning is painful, it is undesirable. If we could ask the tree what it felt during the pruning process it would say, "It hurt". "I hated it". But is it necessary? Absolutely. Ask the tree how if felt a year later when it is overflowing with fruit and beauty, and I guarantee you will get a completely different answer.
The only difference between us and the tree is that we have a will and the tree doesn't. The tree can't talk back or fight. It can only surrender to what the gardener needs to do. We have surrender problems. We try to argue and fight against God's will.
I don't know why children die of disease. I don't know why all marriages aren't restored. I don't know why children who are raised rightly still choose to live a different lifestyle. But I do know that we have a choice in how we respond to those times of suffering.
We can either throw up our hands and say, "God I'm through with you. You've failed me and I can never trust you again." Or we can take the road of "the godly" and humble ourselves, submit to His ways and say, "God, I don't understand your ways, but I have to believe that you love me and you will NEVER fail me. I have to believe that these things that I am suffering right now are pruning moments that you are using to prepare me for greatness."
God will ALWAYS love. He will NEVER fail you. This moment of suffering will not last, and if you surrender to His ways, He will produce in you fruit and character that WILL last.
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