What to Do When God Seems to Be Part of The Problem?

[Guest]

Someone hit me with the title line after a meeting and I thought I'd ask it here.

 

Specifically, there are some un-met needs in your life that are Scriptural, not selfish, etc. and no matter what you do to correct these things you keep slamming into brick walls and closed doors. (Examples: trying not to loose your house, car, etc. by increasing your income or selling stuff off, etc. ) This does not go on one for a week, or a month or two, either. It goes on for years. It goes on so long it starts to seem like you're fighting God and getting nowhere. While other believers around you are allowed to have savings, pay their mortgage, taking care of your family's needs, and all the other things we're supposed to do while being good citizens. (This person was suicidal -- and yes! we got him some help.)

 

His questions still stands, though. What do you do when you try your best to do the right things according to scripture and just keep slamming into the brick walls and closed doors?

[other one]

one would need to know the person well to speculate....    could be any number of things within that persons make up.  Attitude, subconscious workings in his/her mind.   Could be spiritual attachments that they are not aware of to even un repented sin that the person is not willing to discuss or admit (sometimes even to themselves).  Or could be God trying to see just how much the person loves him.

 

Or could be that God is letting the devil have his way with the person on the same level as Job.

 

Possibilities are endless......       maybe the person is just unlucky, or doesn't know how to hold a job or manage money.

[Tropicalbound]

Perhaps they hit the nail on the head.  Stop fighting God.  Perhaps there is a reason they are not supposed to have that particular job.  Perhaps God does not want them in that house.  God only knows (to coin a phrase).  A person cannot put their faith in God and worry at the same time.

 

Grace and mercy are opposites

Faith and worry are opposites

[other one]

It's kind of like when I got all upset and demanded to know why God would not heal my wife of MS when we all knew it was a simple thing for him to do......    I got my blood pressure up one day and screamed and yelled in his face demanding to know why.....

 

He simply said in a very loving quite voice that it was simply none of my business...    that it was between He and my wife.....

 

So I have to assume that it is in her best interests to have MS...

 

Maybe it is in this persons best interests to always be in the position to need God and his help daily.

[Guest shiloh357]

I don't know that the question can be answered effectively without some serious counseling with the person.  They would have to be willing to be open and honest about their life.  Not enough information is really given in the OP to give a biblically based answer.

[Guest]

Thought I'd clarify a bit on the OP.

 

This family has been going through the wringer since the housing market popped in 2008. They still can't get out from under the mortgage because they're underwater on it. Their part of town isn't recovering as fast as some others, and ironically enough the lower prices in that area were one reason they bought there to begin with. They were trying to be good stewards (his words, not mine.) Both he and his wife had good jobs but were not living to excess, since they were actually living below their means, planning for one income when they had kids, etc. They appear to be "normal" Christians from the outside (only God knows our hearts.) They've had their house on the market for years, did all the cutting down you can do (one older paid for car, no cable, cheap cell phone, no landline, etc.) and now they are at the point where they can do no more. He was working 2 jobs and his wife was going back to work until they realized the child care would cost too much. Now they both are unemployed. They are going to loose the house and have nowhere to go despite trying to do all the right things - in short he felt as if he was fighting God just trying to keep his wife, himself, and 2 kids together under a roof of some kind.

 

He's currently getting some help, and so is his wife because she's not in such great shape after all this either. No word on whether they've got any where to go after the house goes or not.

Edited August 8, 2014 by walla299

[Reformed Baptist]

Just because something is good doesn't always mean it is good for everyone - for example, marriage is good however there are some that God has given the gift of singleness, for them marriage is not the good thing that God wants for them! 

 

More seriously though, to even suggest that God is part of the problem is a serious error. God is never part of the problem he is always all of the solution.  

[stormy612]

I'm currently struggling with God in a similar fashion. God is in charge of everything-that's what being "sovereign" means. God could fix this man's situation instantly and He could fix mine as well (though mine is different in nature.)  This man is upset and I can relate-so could Job. All three of us want to argue our case before God. Job did and got his answer-God is sovereign.  When God answered my complaint, He gave me only part of the answer (the rest is coming).  He told me that I had been believing Him for something He never promised in His word. I had been believing Him for something I'd been taught by mankind, not by His word.

 

I'm still struggling, but now its with my flesh-not God.  Ask your friend to lay out clearly what he believes God promised Him-be as specific as possible-then have him dig deep into God's word to see if God really did promise those things. And make sure he understands what God is saying-not what mankind says He's saying. We get things wrong all the time.  He can only get understanding from the Holy Spirit Himself. Ask him to ask God if he's believing for something God never promised.

 

He also needs to be prepared for the answer.  When I realized that God hadn't promised me this, it had a very profound affect on me.  There is far more clarity in my understanding now, but there is more pain than before, and I still don't know what to do. 

 

If anything, your friend will have a clearer understanding of what He's hoping God will do for him and whether or not his faith is based on biblical truth. I don't ask God to fulfill my desire anymore, as much as that hurts.  My new understanding has brought me to a new place-a much harder place-but a much more real place in Christ. 

 

Whether this is part of his struggle or not, I pray he finds some quiet time with God, to open his faith to a new understanding and a new place in Christ and to remember that we are always growing, He is always raising us up higher.

[kwikphilly]

Blessings Walla

    Good question.....I wish I had the answer but I really do not.Naturally when we are asked to take a look at a situation like this,the first thing we do is compare it to something we have faced or are facing in our own lives.......I do like what stormy had to say,perhaps we face dead ends & brick walls at every corner because it simply was not what Gods Will had for us in the first place? Alot to consider but none the less,whatever we come up against we do have to trust God & ask Him to direct our path......He never fails to do this,we simply fail to see & hear Him.

     I do not know enough about your friend but i know enough about myself to know that God is NEVER the problem,I am   Some circumstances are merely the result of poor choices from years gone by & long forgotten

                                                                                                                                                                                       With love-in Christ,Kwik

[Littlelambseativy]

Is God the problem or is it that we don't see the solution that He is providing? Years ago I found that I was faced with a drastic change in my life and job. I saw the problem and did not like the solution that I know God brought about. Years later I could not thank him enough for the change that I did not want. We do see much more clearly in retrospect where God lead us but at the time it was the worst thing that could have happened. For the Christian, His child, He is not the problem ever but always the solution.

So we go on faith as He said - all things work together for those who love Him.