Trusting God in Life’s Disappointments

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All of us have experienced times of disappointment or discouragement, even in our relationship with God. Many projects I worked on over the years for my business didn’t work out, though I believed God directed me to do them. Two Scripture passages became very relevant to me in my disappointments and discouragement; the first being Romans 8:28 (NIV). “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

God works for the good…. The word “works” is from the Greek word synergeo, which means to collaborate or work together to produce a result. It’s the source of our English word “synergy,” which means the result is greater than the sum of the parts. For example, instead of 1+1=2, 1+1=10, which is a biblical ratio (see Deut. 32:30).

God combines all of our experiences – the good, the bad, the wonderful and the terrible – to produce benefits for us. The next verse (Rom. 8:29) says the ultimate benefit is for us to become more like Jesus. The difficulties we face will be relatively insignificant compared to the growth they produce in us. That’s how God works: synergistically!

A companion verse is the following. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).

Combining these verses, we conclude we can be joyful as we persevere in our trials. Not joyful for the trials themselves, but because God works absolutely everything together synergistically to make us more like Jesus! Our role in the process is to persevere and allow our perseverance to finish its work in us.

Notice James refers to the testing of our faith. Who or what is the object of our faith? God. What causes our faith in God to be tested? Have you ever felt like the promises in the Bible apply to everyone except you? “Why are they getting blessed, but I’m not?” I know how you feel!

I’ve experienced years of disappointment, because it seemed God wasn’t doing what I expected, or what I thought he said he would do. I even questioned my ability to recognize God’s voice. Yes, I make mistakes, but I try to be faithful to do what I believe he told me. I’m relieved the Bible says he’ll say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”; not “productive servant.” Have you done what you believed God told you, but you haven’t seen any results? I have, too!

Here’s a modern parable I heard recently that helps us visualize this (author unknown):

God came to earth periodically to visit a certain man. One day, as he was about to leave, God told the man to push a specific boulder every day. When God returned a few days later, the man was deeply apologetic, because he pushed the boulder every day but couldn’t move it. God replied, “I didn’t tell you to move it. I told you to push it, because pushing it makes you stronger.”

As deeply discouraged as I get at times, I remind myself to keep pushing the boulders, to keep working on the projects God’s given me. Not just for the results those projects might produce, but for the growth they produce in me if I persevere.

I encourage you: Keep pushing your boulders, because by persevering, you can rejoice that God will make everything work together to make you increasingly like Jesus.

My book, Royal Partners, examines some principles and perspectives that are very relevant to the disappointments, valleys and unfulfilled expectations we experience in life.

For example: God created humanity in his image. He gave us free will and authority to rule physical creation as our domain. Sin corrupted our nature, but God didn’t cancel what he gave us. Instead, Jesus restored our relationship with God by making us members of his royal family and his representatives in our domains. Our domains consist of ourselves, our families, work, possessions and realms of influence. Obviously, we have authority in our domains, and we can use that authority to do God’s work, including caring for and protecting everyone in our domains, and telling them about God’s goodness.

One of the concepts I develop in the book is what I call a “cooperative, interdependent relationship” with God; a rather awkward term, but it’s descriptive.

God and each of us have responsibilities in our relationship. We rely on him to do what only he can do and he relies on us to do our part in our domains. We’re interdependent – we depend on each other doing our part – and we cooperate with each other. He made it possible for us to grow up spiritually, which includes accepting responsibility for our role in the family kingdom.

Sometimes God is silent because we haven’t pushed our boulders enough; becoming more like Jesus through our trials. It’s also possible he doesn’t do what we expect because we haven’t yet done our part. These are possibilities we need to consider when God is silent.

I have a question for you: Ten thousand years from now, what do you think will be more important; what you achieved in this life, or the person you became? I think we know the answer.

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