What Can I Do When It Feels Like God Isn’t There?Sýnishorn

Day #4 When God Seems Wrong

Jesus perfectly knew the Father’s will and he still had to wrestle through that time in the garden, come to terms with it, and walk forward into it.

So what about you and me? What happens for us in the space between our prayers and God’s answers—between what seems good to us and what seems good to God? Do we keep coming to him, as Jesus did? Do we keep bringing our struggles to him, acknowledging how we’re being tempted by the persuasive thought that God has got it wrong?

Jesus shows us that it is okay to bring our struggles to God. Jesus shows us that it is necessary to do so. Because it is in being honest with the Father and praying as we wrestle that we find a way forward.

When God seems wrong to you—and sometimes your emotions will insist that he is—know that he is not. Know also that there is always a way back, and that it starts with wrestling in prayer with God, bringing your feelings before him and asking him to show you what is right and what is not. I often find myself praying, “God, I hate this. Help me feel how you feel about it.”

His ways are good, perfect, and true—that was no less true on Good Friday than on Easter Sunday, and no less true when we are deep in a valley as when we stand on the mountain peaks. God remains all-powerful, all-knowing, and benevolent, and he is worth trusting. The story of our suffering Savior shows us this, and tells us that it is possible to look at life and gain no understanding of how this can be right, and yet trust God that it is.

Prayer:

Father, when I am tempted to give into the inclination that you are wrong, help me to return to the truth of your word which assures me that you are not. Thank you that even as Jesus faced the cross, he obeyed you perfectly. Help me to give my concerns over to you and to have confidence that your ways are good, perfect and true. Amen.