When God Doesn't Answer How You Want Him To

Introduction

Story is told about a Pastors daughter named Gabbie who was five and taught Him God is in control. He and his wife had decided to take Gabbie and her five year old cousin Hope to the movies.

Since they didn't have a newspaper, they decided to stop by the church to look up the show times on the internet.

When my daughter Gabbie was five, my wife and I decided to take her and her five year old cousin Hope to the movies. Since we did not have a newspaper, we decided to stop by the church to look up the show times on the internet. When we arrived at the church, Gabbie and Hope jumped out the car and darted to the church door. When they got to the door, Hope pulled on the handles to open the door but soon realized it was locked. Hope because very distraught and upset and then said to my daughter, “Gabbie, we can’t get inside because the door is locked.” I never will forget this. My five year old daughter put her hand on Hope’s shoulder and said, “Don’t worry Hope, my daddy has the key.”

When they arrived at the church, Gabbie and Hope jumped out the car and darted to the church door.

When they got to the door, Hope pulled on the handles to open the door but soon realized it was locked. Hope became very distraught and upset and then said to the Pastors daughter, “Gabbie, we can’t get inside because the door is locked.”

Gabbie put her hand on Hope’s shoulder and said, “Don’t worry Hope, my daddy has the key.”

I know there are some people in some dark places right now, but we all need to put our hand on someone’s shoulder and tell them don’t worry because our daddy has the key.

You may ask for something and not get it, or pray for something and not get it answered the way you wanted.

But be encouraged, and rest in God’s sovereignty.

He knows what’s best for you, and He promises us in

Psalm 84:11 KJV 1900

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield: The Lord will give grace and glory: No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

, “He will withhold NO GOOD THING to those who walk uprightly!”

Our lives are held in the palms of His hands, so take heart in knowing that He will not give you something that will hurt you or hinder your relationship with Him.

Our lives are held in the palms of His hands, so take heart in knowing that He will not give you something that will hurt you or hinder your relationship with Him.

Sometimes as I reflect back on my life, I thank God for the prayers He did not answer the way I wanted Him.

Sure enough, He did have a better plan for me and the same goes for you too.

The Bible says in

Isaiah 55:9 KJV 1900

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.

, “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

So we need to be patient because His will is perfect, and His blessings are well worth the wait.

So we need to be patient because His will is perfect, and His blessings are well worth the wait.

If you’ve been praying for something and haven’t received the answer you’re hoping for, don’t lose hope or give up!

God loves you more than you will ever know and wants to bless you in extraordinary ways, so never stop praying!

Never stop believing that He can and will answer you according to His perfect will.

Choose to keep praying, keep seeking, and keep knocking because God will answer!

He will open doors, He will heal, He will intervene and He will give you a breakthrough!

We have to know more than ever before that we walk by faith and not by sight. ()

God is at work in each and every one of His children’s lives, and He hears your prayers.

So cry out to Him today. He will give you the desires of your heart when you delight in Him.

When you surrender your ways to His ways, and your life to His will, then He won’t let you down.

“Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.” –

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed and burdened with the things of this world or the situations you’re in, pray.

Habakkuk was feeling that way...

Habakkuk is disappointed that God did not seem to be answer his prayers; but God’s response indicates that, unbeknownst to the prophet, he has already begun answering them, though not according to Habakkuk’s expectations.

Living in the final days of Israel’s Southern Kingdom and it was a time of Injustice and Idolatry.

He saw the rising threat of Babylon on the horizon and that was not good news.

So he addresses God with his struggle: Is God good when there is so much evil in the world.

So he pins this Lament drawing Gods attention to the injustice asking God to do something about it.

But all of the sudden God responds to Habakkuk.

Habakkuk 1:5–6 KJV 1900

5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: For I will work a work in your days, Which ye will not believe, though it be told you. 6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, Which shall march through the breadth of the land, To possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.

God lets Habakkuk know that he is very aware of the corruption of His on People Israel and He is summoning the Army’s of Babylon to bring down His Justice on Israel.

That he is very aware of the corruption of His on People Israel and He is summoning the Army’s of Babylon to bring down His Justice on Israel.

That he is very aware of the corruption of His on People Israel and He is summoning the Army’s of Babylon to bring down His Justice on Israel.

God said He will use this terrifying Army to deal with the injustice of His People...

God’s response to Habakkuk must have been shocking to the prophet. God was not inactive; he was at work. However, the way of God’s working made no sense too Habakkuk.

Rather than rejoicing that God was no longer silent but was about to do his mighty work, Habakkuk prays a second complaint to God in .

Habakkuk 1:13 KJV 1900

13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, And canst not look on iniquity: Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, And holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Habakkuk

So

Habakkuk protested God using an evil nation for his purposes.

Wait a minute Babylon is even worse than Israel their more violent.

How could God use a wicked nation to accomplish his purposes?

Wait a minute Babylon is even worse than Israel their more violent.

Couldn’t God answer their prayers a different way?

Why God would use a more wicked people to devour the ones who are comparatively more righteous?

Babylon is even worse than Israel their more violent.

They Deify their Powers

They treat humans like animals (Gathering them up like fish in a net)

They devour nations of people groups in order to build their own empire.

So Habakkuk says, How can you, being such an Holy and Good God use such corrupt nations for your instruments in history. He demands an explanation!

Habakkuk 1:13 KJV 1900

13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, And canst not look on iniquity: Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, And holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

How could God use a less righteous people to discipline the more righteous?

How could God permit the Babylonians to succeed?

How could God use a wicked nation to accomplish his purposes? Couldn’t God answer their prayers a different way?

This problem has troubled believers in one form or another from the beginning.

Secondly, why God would use a more wicked people to devour the ones who are comparatively more righteous?

Why does God permit the wicked to succeed in this world?

Why doesn’t he act, so that the good rather than the wicked prosper?

The answers we find in Habakkuk show us that the wicked do not succeed—and that no one, good or bad, can avoid the disciplining hand of God”

Because God’s answer to Habakkuk was not what he expected, he became disappointed and continued to question God.

In the same manner, when our expectations for how we think life should go aren’t fulfilled, we begin to question.

The Gospels also reveal to us a powerful story of how Jesus failed to meet someone’s expectations.

John the Baptist had devoted his life to preparing the way for the coming of Jesus and had witnessed the confirming mark of the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on Jesus at his baptism.

Yet, after all these events, John finds himself wasting away in prison, wondering if Jesus is indeed the Messiah.

In his struggle of doubt, John sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus,

Matthew 11:3 KJV 1900

3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

John’s doubt centered on the fact that Jesus’s life and mission seems to contradict what the Messiah should have been doing for Israel.

John’s doubt centered on the fact that Jesus’s life and mission seems to contradict what the Messiah should have been doing for Israel.

John wanted to know if Jesus was the expected one?

In other words, for John (and most of Israel) the Messiah had certain expectations placed upon him, and Jesus was failing in meeting those expectations.

Matthew 11:3–6 KJV 1900

3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? 4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

Matthew 11:4–6 KJV 1900

4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

The Blind receive their sight (John 9) - but he didn't do it the way they thought.

Matthew 11:4-6

He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,

7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

The Lame Walk (Luke 17) - but he didn't do it the way they thought.

Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda,[a] with five covered porches.

Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches.

Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda,[a] with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches.[b] 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years.

When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!

But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

The Lepers are cleansed (Matthew 8)- but He didn't do it the way they thought.

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy[a] came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.

The Deaf Hear () - but He didn't do it the way they thought.

There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.[a] 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue.

33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”).

At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

The Dead are raised up () - but He didn't do it the way they thought.

Lazarus is sick! so the sisters sent word Master, the one you love is sick

When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days,

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days,

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”“

But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

The poor have the gospel preached to them - but He didn't do it the way they thought.