Psalm 73:26: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Serious Question: Are you disappointed with God?
New Word: Lament
Activity: Choose the right definition.
#1: What feel when drive up to a Chick-fil-A on a Sunday
#2: Loud wailing noise your teenager makes when the Wi-Fi goes out.
#3 Lament (v./n.) Deep expression of a sorrow, a grief, or a complaint, directed toward God
"We want a God who is controllable, a God who will be there when we need him but will not bother us too much when we don't. We want a God who is a convenient utility, a cosmic genie in a bottle."
Case Study #1 - Job - The Disappointed Worshipper
Job 3:11 “Why was I ever born?”
He did not curse God, but he accused God of being unfair
Job 10:3 Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the plans of the wicked?”
Job 13:15 After all wrestling, he came to a place: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him”
That our disappointment with God, leads to an attempt at disappointment without God, and then lands back with disappointment, but with God. Disappointment, with God.
Case Study #2-Habakkuk Disappointed Prophet
“How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but You do not listen?”
Habakkuk 3:17–18 “Though the fig tree does not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines… yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior”
Case Study #3 - Jeremiah Disappointed Prophet
Jeremiah 20:7 “I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me”
Jeremiah 8:18-19 “My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick. Listen, the cry of my people from a land far and wide: ‘Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in her?”
Jeremiah 20:14-18 “Cursed be the day I was born… why did I come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?”
Jeremiah 20:9 “But if I say, ‘I will not mention His word or speak anymore in His name,’ His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot”
Case Study #4 - Mary and Martha – The Disappointed Sisters
John 11:21, 32 “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died”
John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die”
Acts 19:11–12 "God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them."
2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness”
"God’s Parenting Style, is like a parent who wants a child to learn to walk. The parent holds out a hand, but withdraws it just as the child reaches for it. The child plops down, and the parent repeats the process. The child may feel baffled and frustrated, but the parent has a longer-range goal in mind."
What Can We Take Home?
Step 1: Pour It Out (Honest Prayer).
Step 2: Let It Go (Release Resentment).
Step 3: Look Up (Ask a Different Question).
Psalm 34:8 "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!"
Psalm 73:26 “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
