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

by Laura Story

“The disappointment you feel seems to imply there was some sort of promise or commitment that God didn’t follow through on.” “Yes! That’s exactly right,” they’d tell me. “He didn’t!” “Okay, let’s take a look and see if we can figure out why. Can you show me where the promise you’re claiming is in the Bible?” As much as they searched, they couldn’t find a promise that people wouldn’t die, jobs would go to the most deserving, or spouses wouldn’t leave them. In fact, sometimes they would find examples of just the opposite—innocents dying, workers being paid equally despite unequal work, and spouses who not only cheated but murdered. As these hurting, teary-eyed people sat across from me and, for the first time, understood that God hadn’t promised them any of these things, they’d say, “But he’s a good God, and I’m a good person. Why wouldn’t he want me to have that?” Or, “Why would a good God let that happen?” Or even, “That’s not fair! I thought God loved everyone equally!” The betrayal and disappointment they felt was real, but the promises they thought he’d broken were not real. In their minds, they’d made a bargain with God that they’d do something he wanted if he would do something they wanted in return. But there’s a big difference between a bargain that we initiate and a promise that is found in God’s Word. As gently as I could, I would help them see that their disappointment didn’t come from God breaking a promise but from their own false expectations. They expected Go...