Disappointment with God

Have you ever been disappointed with God? I know I have. I can remember times when I yelled at God - wondering how such a loving and just God could possibly allow so much evil. I have definitely been disappointed with God. For this reason, and for general curiosity, I began reading the book Disappointment with God by Philip Yancey. Yancey is one of my favorite authors - probably top three if I had to rate him. He has an impeccable ability to mix knowledge and faith and draw you into the topic, and after you finish the last page you are profoundly impacted. For this reason, I guess you could say this is not really a blog but more a regurgitation of part of this book.

As Yancey wrote Disappointment with God, he visited with countless people who had been disappointed. He mentioned one individual who he aptly labeled the "Job" type. This man was righteous, and devout. Nonetheless, his life was full of devastation. His wife suffered a dreadful fight with cancer and he was hit by a car leaving him debilitated. He could not even do something as simple as read more than one page of a book at a time. As Philip met with Douglas, he asked how he viewed disappointment with God. After a few minutes of thinking, Douglas replied with these powerful words, "To tell you the truth, Philip, I didn't feel any disappointment with God." He said "I have learned to see beyond the physical reality in this world to the spiritual reality. We tend to think 'life should be fair because Gos is fair.' But God is not life." He proceeds to say "If we develop a relationship with God apart from our life circumstances then we may be able to hang on when the physical reality breaks down. We can learn to trust God despite all the unfairness of life."

Yancey brings the point home by asserting that life was even unfair to Jesus. Think about that for a moment. Although life is often unjust, God remains the same. As Philip Yancey stated, "God responded to the question of unfairness not with words, but with a visit, an Incarnation."

Since the fall, life has been unfair, cruel, and unjust. All the while, God mourns with us and remains the same. I know these words do not answer all the questions on disappointment, but they are worth listening to and digesting. We serve a great God - despite our circumstances. Maybe the next time we are disappointed with God, and I am sure there will be a next time, we can remember that God and life are not the same.

* Disappointment with God, Philip Yancey, pages 181-5