WHEN GOD GOES MISSING INTRO Material

INTRODUCTION :-

I have been reading 2 books in relation to the message on WHEN GOD GOES MISSING

Disappointment with God By Phillip Yancey .

Surprising Grace of Disappointment by John Koseler.

When God Disappoints Study of Jonah, by Hathcoat, Ken

All 3 very Good books

The Material I am sharing with you in this message is gathered from these 3 books.

This is one of the ways disappointment in God begins.

God isn’t unpredictable, capricious, or untrustworthy in His ultimate design for our lives, but how God brings about His plans for our lives can often be surprising and inexplicable.

We often confuse these two issues.

This is why doctrine is so important—because circumstances, our inner peace (or lack thereof), and our intuition cannot always give us an accurate picture of what God may be doing or attempting to do in our lives.

For example, Job’s friends saw that his health and wealth had been miraculously taken away (Job 1:16-18).

Job 1:16–18 KJV 1900

16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:

His friends naturally assumed that since God is the ultimate source of all health and wealth (true), that God, therefore, was displeased with Job because his health and wealth had been taken away (false).

Esther may have been fearful that she might be put to death for coming before the king of Persia without being summoned (Esther 4:11).

Esther 4:11 KJV 1900

11 All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.

But that didn’t mean that because she didn’t have “peace,” she shouldn’t have attempted to do what was right and save her people (Esther 4:15-16).

Esther 4:15–16 KJV 1900

15 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, 16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

Gideon intuitively thought that to fight a large army, you need a large army (Judges 6:34-35).

Judges 6:34–35 KJV 1900

34 But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abi-ezer was gathered after him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

But the God of the Bible often works counter-intuitively as far as we are concerned (Judges 7:4-8).

Judges 7:4–8 KJV 1900

4 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. 5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. 6 And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. 7 And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place. 8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

We may privately belittle non-Christians for forming their theology of God from circumstances (Floods, Cyclones , starving children in Africa, etc.).

Yet as Christians, we are often guilty of doing this, too.

Unlike Jonah, we must keep these two ideas in the forefront of our minds when we are faced with difficult struggles:

1) It is impossible for God to do evil.

Job 37:23 “The Almighty—we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate.”

Job 37:23 KJV 1900

23 Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, And in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.

1 John 3:5 “You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.”

1 John 3:5 KJV 1900

5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

It sounds like a trick question from a trivia board game:

Question: What is the one thing Almighty God   cannot do?

Answer: Sin.

If a group of evil men had cornered Jesus when He was on earth, stuck a knife to His throat and said, “Say something evil! Do something evil! Now! Or else!”

it’s not just that Jesus wouldn’t say or do anything evil.

He couldn’t do it. It is just as impossible for God to do evil as it is for you and me to will ourselves to sprout wings and fly.

Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Psalm 23:4 KJV 1900

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Habakkuk 3:17-18 17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

Habakkuk 3:17–18 KJV 1900

17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labour of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no meat; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

From a strictly doctrinal perspective, both David and Habakkuk vowed that in spite of difficult (even horrible) circumstances, they would not infer doctrine from their circumstances.

In other words, they would not ascribe or project attributes of God based on what was happening to them or how they felt.

As far as Jonah was concerned, it didn’t mean it was unreasonable for Jonah to wonder what God was asking of him.

It didn’t mean he had no right to feel frustrated at something he didn’t understand.

But like David or Habakkuk, the conversation that should have gone on in his mind was something like this: “What God is asking me to do is absolutely crazy!

This makes no sense at all.

But the Bible says God is perfectly holy in all He does.

Therefore, the explanation must lie elsewhere.”

2) It is impossible for God to lie.

Numbers 23:19 19God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Numbers 23:19 KJV 1900

19 God is not a man, that he should lie; Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

Titus 1:2 (NASB) “…2in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago…” Of course, it stands to reason that if He cannot do evil, then He cannot lie.

Titus 1:2 KJV 1900

2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

  But we need to examine this point in particular regarding our discussion of God not being able to do evil.

“God cannot lie” means more than just deliberately telling something false.

It means He does not deliberately (or accidentally) mislead.

It means He does not say things that are mostly true, but does not point out the fine print of the contract until after the fact.

It means He cannot contradict Himself.

Hathcoat, Ken. When God Disappoints: Lessons from Jonah (pp. 15-19). Unknown. Kindle Edition.

Based study of the book of Jonah, Let us discuss five observations regarding being disappointed in God.

I) The first is this: Disappointment in God is based on wrong assumptions about God.

Hathcoat, Ken. When God Disappoints: Lessons from Jonah (p. 12). Unknown. Kindle Edition.

2)The second thing we need to say about being disappointed in God is that disappointment in God blinds you in regards to what God is actually doing.

Hathcoat, Ken. When God Disappoints: Lessons from Jonah (p. 34). Unknown. Kindle Edition.

3) This leads me to the third observation regarding being disappointed in God: Disappointment in God leads to death.

Hathcoat, Ken. When God Disappoints: Lessons from Jonah (p. 55). Unknown. Kindle Edition.

4) The fourth observation regarding being disappointed in God is that disappointment in God is rooted in selfish ambition.

That’s a pretty strong statement; one that I fear might be misinterpreted by those who are in the middle of being disappointed in God.

Let me explain.

As far as Jonah was concerned, “selfish ambition” was a pretty good description of what was driving his agenda.

As I conceded, yes, he did obey God when he went to Nineveh and delivered the message God told him to preach.

But it’s apparent by his own statement to God in Jonah 4:2 that  he had thoughts of a different sequence of events that would transpire based on preaching God’s warnings:

Jonah 4:2 KJV 1900

2 And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

A) Nineveh rejects God.

B) God turns Nineveh into a fire and brimstone ash heap.

Jonah was doing what God wanted him to, but Jonah also had a personal agenda in this matter which was really motivating his obedience.

In the end, Jonah was only trying to fulfill what he desired to happen to the Assyrians, not what God wanted to do through Jonah’s preaching.

When confronted with the reality that Nineveh would not be destroyed, he fell into a tailspin again, descending back into his disappointment in God. 

All of which shows that this was never about anything much more complicated than Jonah wanting to do what he wanted to do.

I would define that as “selfish ambition.”

Hathcoat, Ken. When God Disappoints: Lessons from Jonah (pp. 84-85). Unknown. Kindle Edition.

Hathcoat, Ken. When God Disappoints: Lessons from Jonah (p. 84). Unknown. Kindle Edition.

5) The fifth and final observation about being disappointed in God is that disappointment in God is rooted in a lack of eternal perspective.

Imagine another conversation between God and Jonah.

It’s similar to the actual conversation God had with Jonah, but it emphasizes a different rationale for why Jonah was sent on this mission from God: “Jonah, you thought I was a traitor for sending you on a mission to preach repentance to Nineveh, didn’t you?”

“Well, now I don’t, Lord; but, yes, I did.”

Hathcoat, Ken. When God Disappoints: Lessons from Jonah (pp. 105-106). Unknown. Kindle Edition.

THE QUESTIONS NO ONE ASKS ALOUD Sometimes the most important questions, those that float in vague suspension for much of our lives, can crystallize in a single moment.

Richard’s visit provided such a moment for me. In one respect his complaints — broken home, health problems, failed romance, lost job — hardly ranked as world-class disappointments.

And yet that night by the barbecue grill he had, with theatrical finality, acted on the doubts that plague almost all of us.

Does God really care?

If so, why won’t he reach down and fix the things that go wrong — at least some of them?

Absorbed in his anger and pain, Richard had not given voice to his doubts in a systematic way; he experienced them more as feelings of betrayal than as matters of faith.

As I brooded over our conversation, however, I kept returning to three large questions about God that seemed to lurk just behind the thicket of his feelings.

The longer I pondered them, the more I realized that these questions are lodged somewhere inside all of us.

Yet few people ask them aloud, for they seem at best impolite, at worst heretical.

Is God unfair?

Question: Is God unfair?

Why doesn’t he consistently punish evil people and reward good people?

Why do awful things happen to people good and bad, with no discernible pattern?

Yancey, Philip. Disappointment with God (p. 48). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Richard had tried to follow God, but his life fell apart anyway.

He could not reconcile his miseries with the biblical promises of rewards and happiness.

And what about the people who openly deny God yet prosper anyway?

This is an old complaint, as old as Job and the Psalms, but it remains a stumbling block to faith.

Is God silent?

Question: Is God silent?

If he is so concerned about our doing his will, why doesn’t he reveal that will more plainly?

Yancey, Philip. Disappointment with God (p. 49). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Three times, as he faced crucial choices in his education, career, and romance, Richard begged God for clear direction.

Each time he thought he had God’s will figured out, only to have that choice lead to failure.

“What kind of Father is he?” Richard asked.

“Does he enjoy watching me fall on my face?

I was told that God loves me and has a wonderful plan for my life. Fine.

So why doesn’t he tell me what that plan is?”

Is God hidden?

Question: Is God hidden?

Why doesn’t he simply show up sometime, visibly, and dumbfound the skeptics once and for all?

Yancey, Philip. Disappointment with God (p. 51). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

This question, above all, obsessed Richard.

It seemed to him an irreducible minimum, a theological bottom line, that God should somehow prove himself:

“How can I have a relationship with a Person I’m not even sure exists?”

Yet it seemed that God deliberately hid himself, even from people who sought him out.

And when Richard’s late-night vigil provoked no response, he simply gave up on God.

Yancey, Philip. Disappointment with God (p. 40). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Yancey, Philip. Disappointment with God (pp. 39-40). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Yancey, Philip. Disappointment with God (p. 39). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

We need to note:-

True atheists do not, I presume, feel disappointed in God.

They expect nothing and receive nothing.

But those who commit their lives to God, no matter what, instinctively expect something in return.

Are those expectations wrong?

Yancey, Philip. Disappointment with God (p. 41). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.