Disillusioned with God?

I read the saddest thing today. It was an Instagram post by another writer, someone I don’t know. The gist of his post was that he’s done with God. He put it in poem form, and let’s just say there are words I won’t repeat, but I felt so sad that he’s walked away from what could be the source of his hope. As I read through the comments, I realized he’s one of many who have walked away from the Lord because they feel He has failed them.

I don’t think I could find one person who has never felt disappointed by God’s seeming lack of answer to prayer. Even King David sometimes wondered why God felt so far away. In Psalm 13:1, he cries out, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” 

And again, in Psalm 22, David writes, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.” Psalm 22 is referred to as a Messianic psalm because it foretells the suffering of Christ. These words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” are the very words that Jesus cried from the cross as He was being crucified. When God turned his face away from Christ on the cross, he wasn’t turning away from Christ per se; he was turning away from the magnitude of our sins put on Christ because God and sin can’t co-exist. And Jesus took our punishment, SO WE DON’T HAVE TO! 

Now, I don’t claim to be any kind of theologian, but this is a concept I can grasp. Christ died for my sin. I can’t always grasp the love that made Him do that, but I can grasp that I will escape the punishment for my sin because he did.

Does God always answer my prayers the way I want Him to? No. For one thing, He’s a whole lot smarter than me and can see the entirety of the picture, where I only have a postage stamp size view. Do I get discouraged sometimes? Absolutely. Like most people, I want my way until I realize that I’m not as smart as God is, and my way might not be such a great idea.

In the past, the poem I found on Instagram by the disillusioned young man might have made me angry. But, today, I’m just profoundly sad that Satan has him so confused that he can’t see the incredible gift Jesus’ death provides for him. I am praying that today, as we remember the price Christ paid for our salvation, that this young man, and all who have turned away from the one who held their sin on his back, will see the love in Christ’s eyes and remember Him as the one who brings us hope.

After Jesus carried all our punishment for sin, he was laid to rest in a borrowed tomb. He left our sin and rose back to life so that we, too, might live. What an amazing gift! Hallelujah, He has risen! I pray that fills you with hope today.

Cover photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash