Learn the roots of your disappointment in God, and what to do about it, with knowledge from Dave Hickman’s book, “Closer than Close”.
By Wesley Baines – beliefnet.com
The root of all disappointment lies in unmet expectation. It is the
disconnect between what we believe will happen, and what actually happens, and
because we live in a fallen world in which bad things often happen to good
people, it is an emotion that many Christians have felt toward God. Dave
Hickman, in his book, “Closer than Close,” asserts that “Disappointment and
anxiety settle in as we strive to draw close to a God who always seems out of
reach.” Indeed, it often does feel like God is out of the reach of our mortal
hands, an inaccessible king that we mere peasants can never see or touch. But
quite the opposite is true. God is lovingly accessible to us, but, as Isaiah
55:8-9 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my
ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are
my ways higher than your ways.” We must take care to understand that while it
is normal for us to feel disappointed in God, at times, it is never deserved.
It is in this understanding that we can answer the question of why we are
disappointed in God, and overcome that disappointment.
Hickman, rather than describing those who have experienced disappointment with
God and the church as fickle or unfaithful, compares them to a “wounded lover,”
people who “longed to experience Jesus, but experienced rejection, instead.”
These are people who sincerely want to know God, but experience barriers in
growing close to Him. There are multitudes of Christians who feel this way. But
why? Why would an all-knowing God leave us disappointed in Him? Why do bad
things happen to us, even when we pray? Why don’t we feel as close to God as we
wish to? Hickman, in his book, answers this question—we are not united with
God. He writes that, after the fall from Eden, we experienced, “alienation from
God’s spirit.” While we still maintain the free will God blessed us with, we
are no longer fully united with Him—without that direct, guiding union, we can
do harm to ourselves, and to one another. In our fallen world, nothing seems to
work as it should.
Read the Article: https://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/christianity/why-am-i-disappointed-in-god.aspx