When God Won’t Do It: A Mercy of Rejection |Content Ambition

Three broken air conditioners. Two sightings of the same roach. One frustrated dad. This situation came after a long week of travel, contemplating my life, and thinking about what could be versus the path I had chosen. I was ready to come home, go to sleep, and get ready for the next day of work, but all of this had piled up to my boiling point.

I was done, frantically pulling boxes out from under the bed to find this intruder so I could go to sleep. Once my wife and I finally gave up, we collapsed into bed, only for our baby to wake up minutes later. All chaos in the Christian Townson household.

It's an interesting thing to be a Christian aware of suffering, because we simultaneously know that suffering benefits us in the Christian life but also can't bring ourselves to like it enough to stop asking God to take it away. It's similar to attending a play because one of your family members is in it—if you can find an excuse to leave, you will.

The apostle Paul speaks often of rejoicing and being content in suffering for various reasons.

Suffering brings endurance, character, and hope.

In Romans 5:3-5, Paul writes: "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Suffering brings us to depend on God's grace.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, he states: "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Suffering brings a testimony to the world.

In Philippians 1:29-30, Paul reminds believers: "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have."

Suffering brings fulfillment to the ministry of Christians commissioned by Christ.

In Colossians 1:24, he declares: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church."

Suffering benefits us and the world because it works in and through us.

But we still often ask for suffering to stop. Even Paul did when he asked for the thorn in his side to be removed in 2 Corinthians 12.

What does God say?

"No. I'm not going to remove this from you. The path that you want to be on right now is not the path I have for you. I have plans for you. 'Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.'" (Proverbs 19:21, ESV).

I wanted things to change in our situation. Maybe a different place to live, a different mindset, or even just some kind of change. I was frustrated to the point where they tell you not to make any major life decisions. If I had, it would have been drastic and immediate. I would have turned in our keys and found a place to live the next day, but this would not have boded well for our belongings or mental wellbeing.

I imagine Paul wanted some kind of change too, even if it meant dealing with another problem instead. In a small way, I felt like him in this moment because I felt God had prepared me to follow him, and I did—yet things didn't go the way I wanted. Then comes the question: why is it this way and why won't it change?

But God didn't do it. Not for Paul, not for me. Our situations remained the same. Paul kept his thorn, and I kept the status quo.

What do we do when God doesn't do it? Not because he's incapable or uncaring, but because his ways are not our ways—because he knows that what we're going through now will benefit us down the road, even if that road leads into eternity. What do we do when he asks us to put our yes on the table, to prepare for something different, only to tell us to be still?

Sit Down and Let Off Your Steam

• This is why you don't make any rash decisions. When God won't do what you think you want him to do, it can be very easy to get mad. Jonah was mad God wouldn't give him an out from going to Nineveh. He would have been better served by sitting down to let off his steam. Instead, he disobeyed God and went in the exact opposite direction. Do not go in the opposite direction of God. Let off your steam so you can think clearly.

Write Down Your Frustrations and Pray Over Them

• Writing them down will help you process, refine, and pray over them specifically. You also want to write them down so you can look back and learn. When I was young, I had written that I thought girl 1 was going to be my wife, then it became girl 3, then girl 4, and so on. When I look back at being frustrated with God's answers, I praise him for helping me.

Consider When God Won't Do What You Want As A Mercy of Rejection

• Rather than pout and whine, consider whether God's answer is the wrong one (which it never is) or if it is a mercy of rejection. We may claim to hear from God, but the Bible says God's word is perfect, not our interpretation. In a greater way, we cannot treat our discernment as the prophesied Gospel. It may or may not happen, but we should trust God's judgment is better for us.

Contemplate When God Will Do It For You

• Contemplate when God will do it for you. How will he act? How will you discern and trust others differently?

Be Content and Endure Through Suffering With Hope

• When God rejects what we think we want, and we feel stuck where he has us, if it is suffering, let us endure with hope that he has a better solution to our problem. He has a better scenario for us.

When God won't do it, we can be content to know that He knows better than us, He will work what is best for us, and we can endure in what we are in.

Question: How do you respond when God won’t do what you want him to do?