Answer: Disappointment with God is not necessarily wrong
or sinful; rather, it is a part of the human condition. The word
"disappointment" means "a feeling of dissatisfaction when one’s hopes,
desires, and expectations fail to come to pass." When God somehow fails
to satisfy our hopes or doesn’t live up to our expectations,
disappointment inevitably follows. If God doesn’t perform in the manner
we think He should, we are disillusioned with Him and dissatisfied with
His performance. This can lead to wavering faith in God, especially in
His sovereignty and His goodness.
When God doesn’t act when we think He should act, it isn’t because He
is unable to do so. Rather, He simply chooses not to. While this might
seem an arbitrary or capricious act on His part, the exact opposite is
true. God chooses to act or not to act according to His perfect and
holy will in order to bring about His righteous purposes. Nothing
happens that is out of God’s plan. He has control of every molecule
that floats around in the universe, and God’s will encompasses every
act and decision made by every person throughout the world at all
times. He tells us in Isaiah 46:11, “From the east I summon a bird of
prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have
said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.”
Even the birds are somehow part of His foreordained plan. Furthermore,
there are times when He chooses to let us know His plans (Isaiah 46:10)
and times when He does not. Sometimes we understand what He is
doing; sometimes we do not (Isaiah 55:9). One thing we do know for
sure: if we belong to Him, whatever He does will be to our benefit,
whether we understand it or not (Romans 8:28).
The key to avoiding disappointment with God is to align our wills with
His and to submit to His will in all things. Doing so will not only
keep us from being disappointed with God, but it will also preclude
grumbling and complaining about the events that occur in our lives. The
Israelites in the desert griped and questioned God on several
occasions, despite having seen miraculous displays of His power in the
parting of the Red Sea, the provision of manna and quail in the
wilderness, and the glory of the Lord that followed them in the form of
a pillar of fire (Exodus 15–16; Numbers 14:2-37). Despite God’s
continual faithfulness to His people, they grumbled and were
disappointed with God because He did not act as they thought He should.
Rather than submitting to His will and trusting Him, they were in a
constant state of turmoil and confusion.
When we align our wills with God’s will and when we can say, with
Jesus, “Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42), then we find the
contentment Paul spoke of in 1 Timothy 6:6-10 and Philippians 4:11-12.
Paul had learned to be content with whatever God sent his way. He
trusted God and submitted to His will, knowing that a holy, righteous,
perfect, loving, and merciful God would work all things together for
his good because that is what He promised. When we see God in that
light, we can’t possibly be disappointed with Him. Rather, we submit
willingly to our heavenly Father, knowing that His will is perfect and
that everything He brings to pass in our lives will be for our good and
for His glory.
Question: "What was Jesus writing in the dirt when the Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery?"
Answer: The story of the woman caught in adultery is found in John 8:1-11.
Briefly, the story involves the scribes and Pharisees who, in their
continuing efforts to trick Jesus into saying something they could hold
against Him, brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They reminded
Him that the Mosaic Law demanded her to be stoned to death. “But what
do you say?”, they asked Him. At this point, Jesus stooped down and
starting writing something in the dirt. When He straightened up, He
said, “"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw
a stone at her." Then He stooped down and wrote again. One by one, the
people left.
The Jewish leaders had already disregarded the law by arresting the
woman without the man. The law required that both parties to adultery
be stoned (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22).
The leaders were using the woman as a trap so they could trick Jesus.
If Jesus said the woman should not be stoned, they would accuse him of
violating Moses' law. If He urged them to execute her, they would
report Him to the Romans, who did not permit the Jews to carry out
their own executions (John 18:31).
There is a lot of speculation, including the idea that Jesus was
writing a list of the sins committed by each of the Jewish leaders
present. Another theory is that since the woman was “caught in the act”
of adultery, perhaps she was naked, and Jesus was writing in the dirt
to avert His eyes from seeing the naked woman. Both of these ideas are
possible, but there is no way to know for certain. The point of the
passage is not what was being written in the dirt, but rather is a
significant statement about judging others. Because Jesus upheld the
legal penalty for adultery—stoning—He could not be accused of being
against the Law. But by saying that only a sinless person could throw
the first stone, He highlighted the fact that no one is without sin,
and the importance of compassion and forgiveness.
Answer: The story of the woman caught in adultery is found in John 8:1-11.
Briefly, the story involves the scribes and Pharisees who, in their
continuing efforts to trick Jesus into saying something they could hold
against Him, brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They reminded
Him that the Mosaic Law demanded her to be stoned to death. “But what
do you say?”, they asked Him. At this point, Jesus stooped down and
starting writing something in the dirt. When He straightened up, He
said, “"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw
a stone at her." Then He stooped down and wrote again. One by one, the
people left.
The Jewish leaders had already disregarded the law by arresting the
woman without the man. The law required that both parties to adultery
be stoned (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22).
The leaders were using the woman as a trap so they could trick Jesus.
If Jesus said the woman should not be stoned, they would accuse him of
violating Moses' law. If He urged them to execute her, they would
report Him to the Romans, who did not permit the Jews to carry out
their own executions (John 18:31).
There is a lot of speculation, including the idea that Jesus was
writing a list of the sins committed by each of the Jewish leaders
present. Another theory is that since the woman was “caught in the act”
of adultery, perhaps she was naked, and Jesus was writing in the dirt
to avert His eyes from seeing the naked woman. Both of these ideas are
possible, but there is no way to know for certain. The point of the
passage is not what was being written in the dirt, but rather is a
significant statement about judging others. Because Jesus upheld the
legal penalty for adultery—stoning—He could not be accused of being
against the Law. But by saying that only a sinless person could throw
the first stone, He highlighted the fact that no one is without sin,
and the importance of compassion and forgiveness.
Question: "Is it wrong to want to die?"
Answer: Many people who are suffering from terminal illness, painful
conditions, or intense sadness or emotional pain have wondered if we
can just ask God to take our lives. Is this a form of suicide? Will God
take us to heaven if we pray to die? The question that also arises is
whether such a prayer is sinful.
Wanting to escape from suffering, whether emotional or physical, is a
very human condition. Even the Lord Jesus Christ prayed, "O My Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I
will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39).
This was the humanity of Jesus speaking. Jesus knew what lay ahead at
the cross, but notice that He submitted to God’s will. In all things,
Jesus submitted Himself to the will of the Father (John 5:30).
In the Garden, Jesus verified that there are times when it is necessary
to suffer, and He willingly suffered because it was the will of the
Father.
As believers we are always to pray, "Your Will be done." None of us
will die before it is our time. David verifies the truth that all our
days are planned out by God and nothing will shorten them outside of
God’s will: “All the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16).
Rather than praying to die, it is better to pray for God's strength and
grace to stand fast in whatever suffering we are experiencing and trust
in God to determine the time and the details of our passing.
Suffering is hard, and sometimes the hardest part is the questions we
have about why. Suffering is humbling, and as humans we don't like
being humbled or weak and dependent. But when we ask, "Why me, Lord?"
the answer may just be "Why not you?" When born again believers suffer
on this earth, God has a purpose for that suffering and His plans and
purposes are perfect and holy, just as He is perfect and holy. The
Psalmist tells us “As for God, His way is perfect” (Psalm 18:30).
If God’s ways are perfect, then we can trust that whatever He does—and
whatever He allows—is also perfect. This may not seem possible to us,
but our minds are not God’s mind, as He reminds us in Isaiah 55:8-9.
The Apostle Paul suffered from a "thorn in his flesh"—some affliction
that is not explained in the Bible—and three times he prayed for the
Lord to remove that thorn. But God, who could have eased Paul’s
suffering in an instant, chose not to do so. He reminded Paul that the
“thorn” was to keep him from becoming proud and "exalted above measure
through the abundance of the revelations” he had been given, to keep
him from exalting himself. But God did not leave Paul powerless to
suffer alone. God assured him that the grace he had been given by God
was “sufficient” and that God would be glorified by Paul relying on His
power to sustain him. Paul’s response to these truths was to be glad of
his frailty and sufferings because in them God is glorified when the
miracle of His power and strength are on display (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
Therefore, rather than seeking to escape from suffering of any kind
through death, we depend upon God and rest in Him, for His purpose in
suffering will always bring glory to Him and abound to our blessing.
When we are under the intense pressure of suffering, we sometimes feel
like we simply can’t go on any longer. But God reminds us that there is
no suffering or trial that comes upon a believer that someone else
hasn’t gone through before us. Other believers have suffered pain that
could not be alleviated by modern medicine. Other believers have
suffered persecution and hideous deaths at the hands of God-haters.
Other believers have been lonely and abandoned, some imprisoned for
their testimony. So we are certainly not alone. But God is always
faithful, and He will not allow us to suffer or be tested above what we
can withstand and will also make a way to escape so that we are able to
bear up under it (1 Corinthians 10:13). ..
Finally, to answer the question of whether it is actually sinful to
pray to die, quite simply it may come down the principle "Whatever is
not of faith, is sin" (Romans 14:23).
In other words, if our inner man says that it is sin, then to us it is
sin. There is also the Scripture that says, "Anyone, then, who knows
the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" (James 4:17).
There is only one sin that keeps us out of heaven and that is the sin
of rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior by being born again
and receiving the gift of eternal life. But praying to God to allow us
to die can be sin because doing so indicates a lack of faith. A better
prayer would be “God, you have promised to sustain me through any
trial. I beg you to ease my suffering or provide a way of escape
through it. But in all things, not my will but yours be done. Amen.”
Answer: Many people who are suffering from terminal illness, painful
conditions, or intense sadness or emotional pain have wondered if we
can just ask God to take our lives. Is this a form of suicide? Will God
take us to heaven if we pray to die? The question that also arises is
whether such a prayer is sinful.
Wanting to escape from suffering, whether emotional or physical, is a
very human condition. Even the Lord Jesus Christ prayed, "O My Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I
will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39).
This was the humanity of Jesus speaking. Jesus knew what lay ahead at
the cross, but notice that He submitted to God’s will. In all things,
Jesus submitted Himself to the will of the Father (John 5:30).
In the Garden, Jesus verified that there are times when it is necessary
to suffer, and He willingly suffered because it was the will of the
Father.
As believers we are always to pray, "Your Will be done." None of us
will die before it is our time. David verifies the truth that all our
days are planned out by God and nothing will shorten them outside of
God’s will: “All the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16).
Rather than praying to die, it is better to pray for God's strength and
grace to stand fast in whatever suffering we are experiencing and trust
in God to determine the time and the details of our passing.
Suffering is hard, and sometimes the hardest part is the questions we
have about why. Suffering is humbling, and as humans we don't like
being humbled or weak and dependent. But when we ask, "Why me, Lord?"
the answer may just be "Why not you?" When born again believers suffer
on this earth, God has a purpose for that suffering and His plans and
purposes are perfect and holy, just as He is perfect and holy. The
Psalmist tells us “As for God, His way is perfect” (Psalm 18:30).
If God’s ways are perfect, then we can trust that whatever He does—and
whatever He allows—is also perfect. This may not seem possible to us,
but our minds are not God’s mind, as He reminds us in Isaiah 55:8-9.
The Apostle Paul suffered from a "thorn in his flesh"—some affliction
that is not explained in the Bible—and three times he prayed for the
Lord to remove that thorn. But God, who could have eased Paul’s
suffering in an instant, chose not to do so. He reminded Paul that the
“thorn” was to keep him from becoming proud and "exalted above measure
through the abundance of the revelations” he had been given, to keep
him from exalting himself. But God did not leave Paul powerless to
suffer alone. God assured him that the grace he had been given by God
was “sufficient” and that God would be glorified by Paul relying on His
power to sustain him. Paul’s response to these truths was to be glad of
his frailty and sufferings because in them God is glorified when the
miracle of His power and strength are on display (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
Therefore, rather than seeking to escape from suffering of any kind
through death, we depend upon God and rest in Him, for His purpose in
suffering will always bring glory to Him and abound to our blessing.
When we are under the intense pressure of suffering, we sometimes feel
like we simply can’t go on any longer. But God reminds us that there is
no suffering or trial that comes upon a believer that someone else
hasn’t gone through before us. Other believers have suffered pain that
could not be alleviated by modern medicine. Other believers have
suffered persecution and hideous deaths at the hands of God-haters.
Other believers have been lonely and abandoned, some imprisoned for
their testimony. So we are certainly not alone. But God is always
faithful, and He will not allow us to suffer or be tested above what we
can withstand and will also make a way to escape so that we are able to
bear up under it (1 Corinthians 10:13). ..
Finally, to answer the question of whether it is actually sinful to
pray to die, quite simply it may come down the principle "Whatever is
not of faith, is sin" (Romans 14:23).
In other words, if our inner man says that it is sin, then to us it is
sin. There is also the Scripture that says, "Anyone, then, who knows
the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" (James 4:17).
There is only one sin that keeps us out of heaven and that is the sin
of rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior by being born again
and receiving the gift of eternal life. But praying to God to allow us
to die can be sin because doing so indicates a lack of faith. A better
prayer would be “God, you have promised to sustain me through any
trial. I beg you to ease my suffering or provide a way of escape
through it. But in all things, not my will but yours be done. Amen.”
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