What to Do if You Are Disappointed with God?Sýnishorn

Being Stuck in Unbelief

“‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how He told you.’ […] But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” (Luke 24:5-6; 24:11)

Luke 24 starts with the wonderful news of Jesus’ resurrection. It was announced to a group of women by angels and supported by the empty tomb. Moreover, the women remembered that Jesus had told them “that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise” (Luke 24:7). This convinced them that Jesus was indeed alive. They were perplexed by the news, but also filled with joy.

However, when the women told all this to the other disciples, “they did not believe them”. The idea that a dead man could return to life, seemed to them a silly story. And thus, these disciples missed out on the joy of Jesus’ resurrection since their rational thinking hindered them from “just believing” the great things God had done. They remained sad and disillusioned, as we’ll see.

The disciples were disappointed with Jesus, but their disappointment was based on a distorted perception of Jesus’ mission. It was their own unbelief that blocked all joy.

Can you think of a situation in your own life when you could not rejoice in something good that happened, because you weren’t aware of the fact or couldn’t believe it? How about Jesus’ resurrection? Do you believe this really happened, and does this fact fill you with joy?