Disappointment With God: What to Do When God Feels Silentಮಾದರಿ

WHEN WAITING HURTS

WHAT WE LEARN ABOUT SARAI

In Genesis 12, God made a direct and explicit promise to Abram and Sarai. They will have a child. In fact, they will have a huge family: “I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.” (Genesis 13:16, NIV)

Then a year passes. Then two. Still no child.

Then five years.

Then a decade.

Abram and Sarai grow more than restless. They grow desperate.

So Sarai devises a chilling plan: She sends Abram to sleep with their family servant, a young woman named Hagar.

The pattern is clear: Sarai sees that she has no children, she desires to have a child, takes Hagar (her Egyptian slave) and tells her husband Abram to take her and sleep with her.

See. Desire. Take. It’s the exact same pattern found in Genesis 3:6 (NIV):

“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and she ate it.”

That’s what humans do when we get in a bind. We stop trusting God. We grab. We see what we want, we desire it, then we take it. It always leads to a catastrophe.

There’s a spiritual dimension to this, as well. In Genesis 13:2 (NIV), it’s clear who Sarai blames for her situation: “The Lord has kept me from having children,” she says. So Sarai, clearly thinking she cannot trust or rely on God, takes matters into her own hands.

HOW WE CAN GROW

One of the most uncomfortable parts of this story is the cruel realization that Sarai’s impulse, to take matters into her own hands when God is moving too slowly – is not foreign. It’s what we do, too.

I don’t want to be too hard on Sarai. What must she have thought? A supernatural deity said He was going to bless her and her husband with a child, but it’s been more than a decade. Ten years! How was Sarai supposed to make sense of this? Was this God cruel? A jokester? Unreliable?

Have you ever been there? When you’ve been waiting and God hasn’t shown up? It’s a land of deep disappointment and disillusionment. You have an idea about how things are going to go – and then real life happens and it’s not at all what you thought you were signing up for.

These are soul-crushing, faith-eating moments of disappointment. It’s tough to trust God when things aren’t going well because those situations cast a long shadow over our lives. We think: Maybe God isn’t good. Or maybe He is good, I’m just not one of His favorites. Other people get nice things. Not me.

But God is not a liar. He didn’t trick Sarai with His promise. He made a specific promise, and then came down a while later to repeat it.

It’s good to remember that God’s timing is nearly always slower than we would want.

And it’s good to remind ourselves that the opposite of the sin pattern of SEE/DESIRE/TAKE is the faith pattern of LISTEN/TRUST/OBEY. It’s wise to consult with God and remember His promises. We all need reassurance from God. So let’s go to Him to get it, instead of trying to do it on our own.

REFLECTION QUESTION

When have you felt like God was moving too slowly? Is there something in your life that feels that way now? What have you been tempted to do to take control? What would trusting God look like, in this time of waiting?

If you’ve ever wondered whether God sees your disappointment – or if He’s even still listening – Sarai’s reaction in Day 4 might sound a lot like your own. Don’t miss what happens when God finally speaks directly to her.