WHEN UNDERSTANDING FAILS US

What can we do when it seems that God has failed us? When our loved ones are afflicted and die long before their time? When God could easily heal a faithful servant and doesn’t? Even when he allows them to commit suicide? When we these kinds of things happening, we feel betrayed and wonder whether we can really trust this God.

It might surprise you to learn that even the Saints of Israel had a problem with God. The Psalmist complained that God had betrayed the covenant He had made with David:

• But you [God] have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one [David]. You have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust. You have broken through all his walls and reduced his strongholds to ruins… O Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David? (Psalm 89:38-40)

Another Psalmist complained that it was useless to serve God, seeing that the unrighteous thrived better than the righteous:

• Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. (Psalm 73:13) 

Of course, Job, after losing everything, had his own complaints against God:

• "Although I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life. It is all the same; that is why I say, 'He [God] destroys both the blameless and the wicked.' When a scourge brings sudden death, he [God] mocks the despair of the innocent. When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he [God] blindfolds its judges. If it is not he, then who is it?” (Job 9:21-24)

From the narrow vantage point of his experience, it seemed that God acts unjustly in every way:

• All was well with me, but he [God] shattered me; he seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has made me his target; his archers surround me. Without pity, he [God] pierces my kidneys and spills my gall on the ground. Again and again he bursts upon me; he rushes at me like a warrior…yet my hands have been free of violence and my prayer is pure. (Job 16:12-17)

From Job’s limited perspective, he was sure that he didn’t deserve the way that God had treated him. Instead, he was sure that God was guilty of unfaithfulness. However, Job placed too much trust in his own thinking. This became clear to him after God had revealed Himself and asked Job a long series of questions that Job couldn’t even begin to answer.

Job got the point. If he couldn’t answer one of these easy questions, how could he bring charges against God! Consequently, Job repented:

• "I am unworthy (“vile” NKJV)--how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer--twice, but I will say no more." (Job 40:4-5)

• “You [God] asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know…My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:3-6) 

The Psalmist had placed too much trust in his understanding, in the limited spectrum of life that he was able to observe. However, God had given him a revelation that changed all that:

• But when I thought how to understand this [the flourishing of the unrighteous], it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. (Psalm 73:16-17)

God had enabled the Psalmist to see the big picture, and he was mightily blessed:

• When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.  Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:21-26)

However, the Psalmist of Psalm 89, who had accused God of renouncing His covenant with David, didn’t receive an answer, at least as far as we know. After unloading on God, he nevertheless concludes the Psalm:

• Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David?... Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen. (Psalm 89:49, 52)
  

Although sorely disappointed, the Psalmist’s only hope remained with the Lord. He therefore blessed Him, refusing to place his trust in his own understanding.

Discouragement is the lot of God’s servants. There are going to be times when His ways do not make any sense to us. However, the wise servant will not place too much trust in what he sees and understands. Perhaps we trust too much in our wisdom, and perhaps our trust in misplaced. Perhaps we just need to reaffirm our trust in a God who alone is our hope, knowing that there will be times when understanding will surely fail us.

HOW DO WE DEAL WITH GOD WHEN HE DOESN’T ANSWER OUR PRAYERS?

Here’s the problem – God claims that He will answer our prayers!

• Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. (John 14:13-14; ESV)

Despite our Lord’s assurance that He will answer our prayers, many of them seem to go unanswered. This can be very discouraging, even to the writers of Scripture. The Psalmist Ethan the Ezrahite, after reminding God of His promise that He would fulfill the covenant He had made with David to establish an everlasting Kingdom, charges God:

• But now you [God] have cast off and rejected; you are full of wrath against your anointed.  You have renounced the covenant with your servant [David]; you have defiled his crown in the dust. You have breached all his walls; you have laid his strongholds in ruins. All who pass by plunder him; he has become the scorn of his neighbors. You have exalted the right hand of his foes; you have made all his enemies rejoice. (Psalm 89:38-42)

It seemed as if God had failed to keep His promise and to answer the prayers of Israel for deliverance. How do we understand this “failure” in light of God’s promises? We need to understand that Jesus’ promises to answer prayer carried along with them several conditions. One of them was “that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” His answered prayers were intended to glorify the Father. It also had to be in “His [Jesus’] Name. This is not simply a matter of uttering the name “Jesus.” This requires that our prayer requests have to be according to His will.

We see this proviso echoed in many places in the Bible. The three Jewish young men had refused to worship the king, who even gave them another chance to worship him before they would be thrown into the fiery furnace. However, they bravely answered:

• “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is ABLE to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18.)

Notice that they hedged in saying, “Our God will save us.” Instead, they answered more humbly, “Our God… is able” to save us. Evidently, they understood that, ultimately, their rescue depended upon His will, saying, “But if not.” They understood that sometimes His will is for our martyrdom.

Jesus also understood that it depended upon the Father’s will and plan for His life. He therefore prayed:

• And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup [the Cross] pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)

If Jesus was willing to submit to the will of the Father, so too must we. Although, it might seem that we have been given a prayer blank-check for whatever we want, Scripture is emphatic that this is not the case:

• You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (James 4:3)

Our Lord will answer our prayers, but they must be according to His will and plan for our lives. Well, what is His plan for us? I think that Jesus exhibited this plan in His model prayer:

• Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. (Matthew 6:9-11)

Notice that God’s will must precede our own will and desires. The Lord’s Prayer also adds another condition for our prayers to be answered:

• And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matthew 6:12)

This means that we have to be living for the Lord - confessing our sins and turning from them. Our Lord does guarantee to meet our needs, but this requires Him to be first in our lives:

• But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

God does guarantee to provide for us according to His will:

• And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1 John 5:14-15)

Consequently, when I pray according to His will, I know that I “have the requests that [I] have asked of him.” When I pray for wisdom to better serve Him, I know that He will give me wisdom. It might not be provided in the time slot I have designated, but I know that I have received.

The Psalmist Ethan couldn’t see a way of escape out of what he saw as a massive failure of God – that God had promised to provide, but it seemed as if He had reneged. Yet he concluded his Psalm on higher ground:

• Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen. (Psalm 89:52)

Ethan failed to grasp how he could still trust in the Lord after this profound disappointment. Nevertheless, he trusted that his God would yet show Himself faithful. Often, this same step of faith is required of us.

DEALING WITH DEEPLY ENTRENCHED SINS

We are afflicted with deeply entrenched sin. While some of our sins have ceased to plague us, others remain untamed, as Scripture warns:

• For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. (Galatians 5:17)

How then do we gain victory over our sins? Some would say that, since God understands that we will continue to struggle against sin in this life, we can simply accept their presence. After all, we don’t want to be legalists or to walk around dismayed about our moral failings. They therefore erroneously argue that we have to reject sin consciousness.

However appealing this message might sound, it is not biblical. Jesus taught that we have to endeavor to be like God:

• Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

Peter agreed that the perfect Christ had to be our role model:

• As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:14-16)

In fact, Holy living is never optional:

• Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

The Bible never gives us an excuse to sin. Even if we have a perfect moral track record, we still do not have the right to sin (Ezekiel 33:12).

Yet, we continue to sin! What then? We don’t give up! Not according to Paul:

• Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)

But how do we press on in the midst of repeated failures to overcome sin, especially the internal ones? By knowing that pressing on is what is expected of us! Also by knowing that:

• If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1:9-10)

We cannot expect to become be sinless in this life. Anyone who claims this is a “liar.” Sinlessness will only become a reality when Christ returns for us:

• Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

Why does our Savior abandon us to this often discouraging struggle against sin? Because we need it! An immediate victory over sin would not serve us well. Why not? We do not do well spiritually when everything is going well for us. The pagan King Nebuchadnezzar had been very proud of his accomplishments. However, God was merciful to him and struck him down with insanity for seven years. After these seven years, his mind was restored and his pride had been crushed. He therefore confessed:

• Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble. (Daniel 4:37)

Job was the most spiritual man in the entire earth, yet he too had become proud, as the prophetic Elihu revealed:

• "But you [Job] have said in my hearing-- I heard the very words-- 'I am pure and without sin; I am clean and free from guilt. Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy.’” (Job 33:8-10)

Elihu explained that, because of Job’s spiritual pride, God, in love, had to humble him:

• "But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than man. Why do you complain to him that he answers none of man's words? For God does speak… to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword… His soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the messengers of death. Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him… then his flesh is renewed like a child's; it is restored as in the days of his youth. He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God's face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state. Then he comes to men and says, 'I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved. He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.'” (Job 33:12-28)

For his own good, even Job needed to be humbled. We too need to be humbled in order to receive the blessings of God. Paul also had to learn this same lesson:

• To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

There is nothing that can humble us like our repeated moral failures. These teach us compassion and gratefulness for our Lord’s grace. Otherwise, we tend to trust in ourselves instead. Paul also had to learn this lesson:

• We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)

We too need to learn this lesson, but this is a lesson we can only learn in our struggle against sin.

Discouragement in the Lord

Israel had just been defeated by the Canaanites at Ai, and Joshua was deeply discouraged. Although only 36 Israelites had lost their lives in this battle, it signaled the fact that Israel was not invincible. This sent Joshua into a tail-spin:

• Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads. And Joshua said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?” (Joshua 7:6-9)

Even worse than the fact that this defeat would have catastrophic effects on Israel’s Canaan campaign, it was discouraging for another reason. God had promised Joshua that no one would be able to resist him:

• No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. (Josh. 1:5)

However, Ai seemed to make a mockery out of this promise. They had just stood very successfully against Joshua and his Israelites. How could Joshua ever trust in the Lord and His promises again? If God had let him down once, why not again and again? No wonder Joshua was devastated and even imagined that he had done something wrong by having the hubris to cross the Jordan, believing that he would conquer the Promised Land.

However, Joshua’s problem was that he lacked an important piece of the puzzle, and this lack prevented him from understanding the defeat. God explained to Joshua that Israel had been defeated because they had sinned by violating the command of God:

• The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?  Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction. (Josh. 7:10-12)

Sin will interfere with receiving any of God’s promises. We cannot expect the blessings of God if we reject the Word of God. Actually, it was only one person – Achan - who had sinned, but his sin involved the entire nation of Israel. We are our brother’s keeper, and whenever we allow unrepented sin in our midst, we all suffer.

With this knowledge, Joshua was able to address the problem, and Israel was once again enabled to stand. However, sometimes it seems as if the Word of God has failed. Paul had warned the church that although the Word might seem to have failed, it really hadn’t. It only seemed to have failed because we have interpreted it wrongly:

• It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. (Rom. 9:6-7)

In fact, God’s people have often despaired because it appeared as if God’s promises had failed. The Psalmist despaired as he viewed what had seemed to be the failure of the Davidic Covenant (Psalm 89). However, the Psalmist had regarding God’s promises too narrowly. We do the same thing and wrongly conclude that God has failed us.

Abraham had wrongly concluded that God had failed him. He had intervened with Yahweh for the salvation of Sodom where his beloved nephew Lot and his daughters resided. The next morning, he went out the mountain overlook to survey the fate of Sodom and the cities of the plain. They had been utterly consumed. In despair, Abraham packed his bags and never returned to that area, convinced that Lot and his daughters had also been consumed. As far as we can tell, Abraham never found out his God had rescued them.

Our Lord is more faithful than our discouraged eyes are able to perceive.