I spoke to a young man one time and told me that he was upset with God. He prayed and God did not answer. He went to church and did all he can to serve the ministry and yet the one thing he asked God for, God didn’t give.
“God failed me.”
It’s not uncommon that people would feel this. They may not articulate it but it can definitely cross their mind.
I remember Paul the apostle praying for the church in Ephesus:
May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. (Ephesians 3:18-19)
Everything that God does flows from who He is. His nature dictates His ways. Because He is love, His ways are always loving. Because He is gracious, His ways are always gracious. Because He is merciful, His ways are always merciful. And because He is holy, His ways are always guided by His holiness.
Isaiah 45:9 declares this truth:
“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’
God is the Shaper, not just of our lives but of every life in the planet. He sees the end from the beginning thus giving Him a perspective that we don’t.
I will trust the perspective of a person looking from a watch tower than of one right in the thick of a battle. But even that, his perspective is still limited though he is coming from a way better vantage point.
God declares:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
As we start this week, it may seem that God has failed you because what you asked for, you didn’t get. But know this, His thoughts for you cannot be outnumbered. They cannot even be counted for they outnumber the sand on the seashore. (Psalm 139:17-18)
Lord, I thank you for who You are – Loving, Almighty, Alpha and Omega, Heavenly Father, Lifter of my head. There are lots of things I can’t seem to compute in my mind as far as the events that come my way. But I make a decision to trust you this week because I know that you are more than able to cause all things to work together for those who love You and are called to Your purposes. Not my will but Yours be done. In Jesus’ name. AMEN.
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