DISAPPOINTED BY GOD (part 2)
digging deeper on these two great questions to ask when we’re in the middle of a disappointing season.
Some scripture at times in life has just a little more relevance to where I am that day. This truth-bomb from Psalms 27 seems to have been written with us in mind during this pandemic season… it seems anyway.
“Never brag about the plans you have for tomorrow, for you don’t have a clue what tomorrow may bring you.” - Psalms 27:1 (The Passion Translation)
In Part ONE of this post, I made the case that we all will experience some sort of redefining moment or event in our life that we were not expecting. (If you haven’t read Part ONE, go back and read it HERE). This redefining moment has the potential to change the trajectory of our life, and seemingly, not always for the better. If we are Jesus followers, sometimes we experience this and turn the question to God himself asking why HE did this to us… and we attach our disappointment to Him.
However…
Beautiful things can come from the ashes and dust that life leaves behind. I left you last time with TWO questions that have helped me navigate much of life’s journeys (the disappointing parts at least). They are:
-What might God want to teach you during this?
-What does this now make possible?
I wanted to spend a few extra words on these two questions in today’s post. I hope that it will help bring added clarity to how you may apply them.
GOD, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO TEACH ME THROUGH THIS?
This is a more personal way to ask the question. As I said, I believe that God doesn’t waste any experience or event in our life. He’s not only continuously at work behind the scenes, but He also uses the pain in our life to help shape, refine, and guide us on our journey with Him.
I have been processing different kinds and different levels of disappointment over the last 2 years. I had a script. My story line included me staying in the ministry position at the church I helped to plant from the ground-up… maybe forever. I loved what I did, and the people that I got to serve - and serve with. I thought I’d be there ‘til retirement. But then, after nearly 20 years, the story changed, as did my pastoral relationship there. It has been a difficult journey to say the least, and much of it I may not fully understand for years to come. To say that it has been disappointing is an understatement. But with the help and guidance of some great friends and a wonderful counselor, not to mention a Godly wife, I have been able to apply that question and see some of the things that God is wanting to teach me. When that part of my journey has more definition to it, perhaps I’ll share what those things are… but for now, that part is just for me, my counselor and my journal.
It’s interesting and encouraging that so many times in scripture that the desert was a place that represented alone-ness, being lost, being isolated, being abandoned. But it was also a place where God always showed up to do some amazing work deep inside people. I love what my friend Dave Adamson says (@aussiedave on Instagram - please follow him!)
“Don’t ask God WHEN can I get out this desert… ask God WHAT can I get out of this desert.”
And you should ask that same question. You should wrestle with it. You should get very honest with both your question and with any disappointment, discouragement or even anger you have, and honestly bring that to your heavenly Father. Just maybe, there are some answers He has for you. Don’t miss them by not asking!
WHAT DOES THIS NOW MAKE POSSIBLE?
I don’t know who I first heard phrase a question similar to this, but I think it was Don Miller. I love asking this question. To get really practical with this current season of pandemic and quarantine, the answers to this question are things like.
… I can actually spring-clean my house - like deep spring clean!
… I can have a meal with my family around the table 7 nights a week.
… I can take evening walks with my wife around the neighborhood.
… I can binge watch pretty much anything I want on Netflix.
But in the bigger scheme of things, we have watched restaurants pivot and become a fully curb-side or delivery eatery. We have seen churches adjust and offer online gatherings as a way to keep their folks connected. We have been in meetings and small groups over Zoom or FaceTime (too many of them, right?). We have seen schools become a completely virtual learning environment. Practically speaking, there are some things that have become possible by what is going on.
With the story of our lives though, this question can begin to create a clarity around a new vision, a new passion, or a new adventure. Having your sweetheart break your heart is so very tough, but asking this question may lead you to an opportunity to serve students at a Young-Life camp all summer long that you would not have considered otherwise. Having your boss lay you off may be a tough blow, but it could present you the the opportunity to start that business you had always dreamed about. My current season of working with high school students wouldn’t have been possible if I had not gone through the difficult disappointment of leaving my church position. It may be a difficult one to wrestle down, but there is always an answer to this great question.
I love the story of Joseph... the Old Testament Joseph - great grandson of Abraham, not Jesus’s earthly step-dad. After his brothers sold him into slavery and told his dad that he was dead… After years and years of separation from his dad and brothers…. After all the ups and downs of life including being in jail and forgotten and then elevated to second in command in Egypt… After decades of time cut off from his family, an unplanned reunion happened, and his betraying brothers were at the feet of Joseph to beg for food. There is so much more to this story and you should go check it all out… but I love Joseph’s response and I wish it was my response more often.
To his brothers…. “YOU intended to harm me, but God intended it ALL for Good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” - Genesis 50:20
That’s actually what happened. Joseph’s leadership and influence not only saved his brothers lives, but it saved the Egyptian empire from the catastrophic fallout of the famine. None of that would have happened if Joseph had not been sold into slavery by his very brothers.
A reality we have spoken of several times over the last few weeks goes something like this… “who would have known or thought back in January that this is where we’d all be?”. It’s a modern-day version of what the Psalmist wrote that we talked about earlier, “Never brag about the plans you have for tomorrow, for you don’t have a clue what tomorrow may bring you.” And that has been so true. And it CAN be true again. It most likely WILL be true again. Not a global pandemic, but a major re-direct in life that we didn’t see coming. We will again be faced with a narrative shift that will send us onto a potentially disappointing journey.
We don’t get to choose what happens to us. We will not be asked how the story will unfold around us. All we can do is chose how to respond. I challenge you to spend some honest time with your thoughts and with your Savior and ask these questions.
I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my favorite movies… In Apollo 13, after everything that could go wrong has gone wrong, mission control is about to bring their 3 astronauts home. In a scene on the flight deck, two of the mission control specialist are evaluating how bad it really is….
“…the parachute situation… the heat shield… the angle of trajectory… and the typhoon - there’s just too many variables…”
“I know what the problems are. This could be the worst disaster NASA’s ever experienced.”
Then the flight director played by Ed Harris speaks up….
“With all do respect sir, I believe this is going to be our finest hour.”
We get to chose how to respond.
Stay inside.
Wash your hands.
Respect social distance.
And respond well - this could be your finest hour!
Now, watch the clip I just mentioned… (and don’t forget to share this post with a friend who may need it!
