When God Doesn't Fix It: Lessons You Never Wanted to Learn, Truths You Can't Live Without

by Laura Story

We’re all just one phone call away from learning the results of a test or the news of an affair, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, or a thousand other ways our hope can be shattered. In that moment, we think life as we know it is over. The truth is, life, as we’ve yet to know it, has just begun.

During the session, he reminded us that our first ministry was not to our churches but to our families. “Don’t let the job fool you. Your number-one ministry will always be your family. These churches will take your life if you let them, but your greatest serving opportunity isn’t in the church; it’s in your home.”

God, where are you in all of this?

Everything that made me cool, everything that brought me attention and fed my ego was suddenly missing.

Paul said we were created by God, for God. We are his “handiwork”—his masterpiece.

I believe I am your masterpiece, not because I feel it but because you say it. Though I can obsess about my deficiencies and my insecurities, I know you designed me perfectly for the good works you set before me. Help me in this time of trial to follow in your footsteps, so that I may complete those works for your glory.

Our desire is for God to fix broken things. But God’s desire for us is to fix our relationship with him.

Jesus came to heal, but he doesn’t always fix the broken things I want fixed.

Have you ever felt bewildered, disappointed, or angry that you didn’t get what you thought you deserved? Looking around, you see others have gotten what you wanted, and you don’t understand why you can’t get it too. Someone else received your cure, your fix, your apology, the life you wanted, or the baby you prayed for. What you had hoped for, what you earned, what you thought would be mended, what you were waiting on, is now gone. That one thing that was almost in your hands, that you rearranged your schedule for, that you stood in line to receive, and that you made an appointment to get, can no longer take place. Though someone else may have been involved, it still feels as though God has turned his back on you.

It’s tempting to think that what we do for God will bring the favor of God. We think if we’ve done enough for God—gone to church on Sunday, dropped some money in the collection plate, read our Bibles, and said our prayers—then he will repay our good deeds with answered prayers and a pain-free life. I grew up thinking that way.

somewhere deep inside I believed that if I did all the right things for God, then he would do the right thing by me. When he didn’t, I felt as if God hadn’t kept up his end of the bargain. I

“Here’s your latte.” Those words made me smile each time I heard them because the people who brought me lattes weren’t trying to give me answers. They were just trying to give me coffee. They sat with me and wept with me and never said a word. They were the ones who refilled my empty cup.

How do you count the trials of your life as joy?

James is saying that when the trials of life happen, we need to hold on to God. It’s an opportunity for us to look in the dark for the less obvious blessings and mercies of God that we might overlook in the light. When we do, God shows us things that we otherwise might miss. God’s light is brightest in the dark.

Like many in the church, I grew up believing my faith was only as strong as the number of quiet times I had each week, the number of verses I memorized in a year, and the number of Sundays I attended church.

If I called you to stay how you are right now, will you be content, or will there always be something else you want?

Despite every dream we let go, we still believed that God was good. And that he was for us. And eventually, that’s what would change us.

We often think about worship as the songs we sing in church, but the truth is that worshipping God is about surrender. Surrendering to God’s will when it doesn’t match ours or when we’re too impatient to wait for him. Surrendering that which is most important to us. And surrendering our personal story to live out our part in God’s greater story. Worship is surrendering everything for God, valuing God so much that we’re willing to let everything else go.

The answer to why doesn’t help us heal. But knowing that God’s glory can be displayed, even in the brokenness of our lives, gives us hope despite our circumstances. I promise you will find more purpose and joy in your life if you set aside the why and begin to ask how.

How does my story fit into God’s greater story of redemption?

We have to come to a point where we say, “I don’t know why my life looks this way. But I don’t have to understand why. It’s enough for me to believe that God has a plan and that he has promised he will never leave or forsake me, and he will be by my side through every trial I face.” I know this counters everything we think we want, but there is freedom in not having all of the answers—especially the answer to why.

Her questions pierced the protective shields I put up publicly. It was much easier to stand onstage and look like I had it all together than to actually have it together at home.

My first thought was, This life doesn’t look anything like I expected it to.

All these things that I thought my life should look like, these things that even you label as good, I felt like you should have given them to me.

what if there are blessings that God offers that are greater than just a pain-free life?

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace; Comfort for family, protection while we sleep. We pray for healing, for prosperity; We pray for your mighty hand to ease our suffering. And all the while, you hear each spoken need, Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things. ’Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you’re near? What if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise?

you’ve learned to run to me with your questions. It was easy to tell people the story of our hike out of the gorge, but it would take a whole new level of vulnerability to tell them about our wanderings in the valley of the shadows of a brain tumor. I had a choice. I could continue to keep my brokenness and doubts hidden, or I could expose them for the world to see. One would prevent God from entering into my brokenness;

If we’re willing to let him use our story, our whole broken story—not the sanitized, social-media-filtered version we want to share

God can redeem not only every life, but every season of our life, every addiction, every lie, every failed marriage, every financial crisis, every jealous thought, every bad mood, and every deep, dark secret. He uses our lowlights to demonstrate his power. No matter how deep our pit of sin is, God’s long arm of redemption reaches down, pulls us out, washes us clean by the blood of Jesus, and welcomes us home.

don’t let the death of one dream lead to the death of another.”

“There is a breathtaking beauty found in suffering that you can’t know until you risk looking for Jesus in the midst of it.

It’s a hard truth to hear that our circumstances might not change and God might not fix the broken things in our lives.

What are your expectations about your life? Where has your life fallen short of those expectations?

live a better broken.