When God doesn't come through the way you expect
What do you do when God doesn't come through the way you’re expecting him to? How did you feel being sure about God's leading one minute only to realize it didn't work out?
There was a season in my life when I felt God didn't show up for me the way I expected him to. God had led me to apply for a program and when I grew anxious, I went to him in prayer. He affirmed what he'd said before. So I kept following his leading, waiting and watching. I'd done what he asked me to.
I followed his lead and put all my eggs in his basket. When the people around me suggested I have an option B, I stuck with God's will, believing him to come through for me.
And just when I expected God to show up for me and also prove to others that my purpose for sticking with him wasn't in vain, I was disappointed.
My application got rejected and I was told not to bother trying again. Because I didn't qualify.
For a while, I didn't understand what was happening.
What was God trying to do? If I knew I was going to get a response like that, I wouldn't even bother in the first place.
If God knew I wasn't eligible for the program, why let me spend money and time and focus on one thing alone?
Or was I confused when I heard God? I'd gone back to prayer more than once so somewhere deep inside, I felt assured.
So what could have gone wrong? And how can we control our emotions when God does not show up for us the way we expected him to?
When God doesn't come through physically, trust Him still
When God doesn’t appear to come through physically, we must trust Him still.
You see, God may have shown us something. He might have led us through some places in life. But just because we didn't see the physical manifestation doesn't mean he wasn't working behind the scenes.
The invisible is much more important than the visible. The Spiritual matters more than the Physical.
And although the physical might not have resulted in our expectations, the most important thing is that we obeyed God.
He has a plan and purpose.
He's intentional. He definitely knows what He's doing.
If obeying Him guarantees our hearts changing and our conformity into Christlikeness, then I would obey regardless of him not showing up for me physically.
God's ways are not our ways, neither are His thoughts
I still have earthly thoughts. God is of another world. God is spiritual, holy, and high.
His standards and ways are higher than ours. So high! This means our thought patterns will definitely differ in many ways.
God may have told us something, but just because He says it in a certain way doesn't mean we interpreted Him correctly. This depends on our spiritual growth. The more we grow, our understanding of Him increases and gets clearer with time.
We see an illustration of this when Jesus said in Matthew 16:6,
“Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”
Matthew 16:6
But the disciples felt Jesus was talking about Physical bread.
They discussed this among themselves and concluded, “It is because we did not bring any bread
Matthew 16:7
I've seen people misinterpret God's spiritual blessings to mean mundane and perishable goods. Things without eternal value. People misinterpret greatness to be demonstrated through wealthy men of the world.
But God sees the greatest as the one willing to serve. God appreciates a man with a broken and contrite spirit. -Psalms 51:17
A broken and contrite spirit is a goldmine in the eyes of God not just any man with earthly accolades.
Jesus was/is the greatest. But many wouldn't want to follow the pattern of Jesus' life because of the shame associated with it.
God sees success as a Man obeying His will and dying daily to the flesh. A man that has Christ formed in Him.
So even when the process isn't coming through the way we envisioned it would keep trusting Him. He knows what He's doing.
Be flexible to God's will
Rather than sulk and cry about things not going the way we thought they would, why not give thanks that God is still God, regardless of the circumstances?
When John was jailed, he must have expected Jesus to come through for Him. Especially with the way things worked in the Old Testament.
Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples ask Him, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?"
Matthew 11:3
But Jesus didn't show up, even until His death.
When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.
matthew 14:13
But guess what happened the moment John's disciples went back to deliver the report of Jesus back to John:
As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John,
“What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? “But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces! “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. “This is the one about whom it is written,
'BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’
“Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than heMatthew 11:7-11
Jesus was praising John and exalting him to be greater than prophets like Moses, Daniel, Abraham, and many other patriarchs in the Old Testament. John had fulfilled his purpose and must have understood that his time had come to an end after Jesus sent messengers to deliver the news. Jesus recognized and acknowledged Him for His presence and purpose. It didn’t go unseen. John must have felt forgotten, but Jesus assured him He was the messiah the world had been waiting for. As long as God is glorified in our situation, that matters more than anything else in this world.
Stay on the course, even when you don't understand
Job was a man who stayed on course even when His wife asked him to curse God and die. He was highly misunderstood by his friends but his faith held fast unto God.
Job did not understand the chaos going on in his life, but he kept trusting and hoped until the end.
No wonder God could boast about Him! This reminds me of how Jesus boasted about John the Baptist.
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
job 13:15
God is rooting for you! When your path doesn't look smooth, He's right there, as the good father that he is, holding your hands, watching you, and keeping you from falling. He may not show up physically, but trust him, amazing things are happening within. And that's more precious than anything happening in the physical.
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
I hope this post encourages you to keep on, even if it feels like God did not show up for you. For God is good and his ways are good.
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