What Happens When God Doesn’t?

What happens when we pray, but God doesn’t cure the disease and our loved one dies?  What happens when we’ve prayed for years, yet our adult child still hasn’t trusted in Christ?  What happens when we pray and pray and knock on the door of heaven, but God doesn’t restore our marriage?  What do we do when we feel like God is silent? 

Both Scripture and the history of the church is full of examples of heroes that had an “Even If” kind of faith.  This is exemplified beautifully in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who fully believed their God could save them from the fiery furnace.  However, they told the king that even if he didn’t, they would continue to obey his commands.  They acknowledged that God could, but also fully placed their trust in Him even if He didn’t.  We see this in the story of Habakkuk as well.  He was asking God for justice, but he didn’t like the answer – that justice would come in the form of conquering by an enemy.  He wrestles spiritually and the outcome is an “Even If” kind of faith when he closes his short book with these words:

               “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, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

I desperately want to have this kind of faith, to be content and rejoice no matter my circumstances.  However, I also have spent time alone in my room, weeping before the Lord, and wondering why he would allow so much pain in my life.  I’m so thankful that God can handle our raw emotions, and he’s so patient with us in our pain.  We can take our questions to him and even pray when we have a lack of faith.  I’m not sure how big a mustard seed is, but some days, I feel like all the faith I can muster in hard times is about the size of a sesame seed.  It’s ok; I can ask the giver of all good gifts for help, and he will surely “supply every need…according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:19) 

What do we do on the hard days when we’re tempted to believe the lies of the enemy?  What do we do when we start to wonder whether or not God really cares if he would allow so much suffering in this life?  Simply put, we have to look no further than the cross.  Camp out here for a moment with me.  God loved you enough to send his only son to die for you, but he did much more than that.  Christ willingly left his throne in heaven and perfect communion with the Father to come and live in a sinful, broken world.  He took on a body of flesh, complete with the ability to feel sickness and physical pain.  He experienced the emotional pain of temptation, sorrow, rejection, and betrayal.  He did these things to bring honor and glory to the Father and out of love for us, to reconcile us to a holy God.  He then took our sin upon himself and willingly chose to take the wrath of God for our sin in our place.  I heard a sermon clip recently that said Christ “hung between heaven and earth, rejected by both.”  As he bore the incredible physical torment of crucifixion, he bore the emotional weight of being rejected by the very people he came to save as well as rejection from his Father because he was bearing our sin in himself.  Sit with that for a moment.  Christ loved you so much he was willing to take the ugliness of your sin upon himself and experience separation from God for the only time in eternity.  Why?  To obey the father and because he loves you.  He did it so we would never have to know what it is like to be apart from the Father.  Therefore, anytime we question whether or not God truly loves us if he would allow us to experience immense pain, we can remember this: we have a God who not only sees us but also sits with us in our pain.  He will never ever abandon you, and we can trust that these hard things in our life are “preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”  (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)  When all we can see are the losses, the heartache, and the grief, we remind ourselves that these things are temporary.  What God is doing in these hard things, namely, making us more like Christ – these things are eternal and are of eternal significance.  Therefore, “do not lose heart.”  (2 Corinthians 4:16)  He loves you and that will never change.