This is the second post on dealing with disappointment with God. While this post stands alone, it may help to have some background context. You can find the first post here. Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear your feedback!

---

In my last post, I promised a point of hope as you deal with your disappointment with God. To work our way toward this hope, we must begin with your origin story.

The best stories have a good backstory. This is known as an origin story that shapes who you are. 

When I was a kid, my mom would tell me the story of my birth. When I came out of the womb, the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck, and I turned blue. I was rushed from the birthing room to an incubator, where I stayed for a few hours. If I had heard that story once, I would have heard it a hundred times.

The story of my birth shaped me. 

As I recall hearing that story repeatedly, it told me there was a purpose for my life. My life had meaning. I was meant to be alive. As a kid, listening to my mom tell me that story shaped me.

Super Heroes

All superheroes have a good origin story. These origin stories aren’t always clear in the Marvel or DC movies popular today, but they almost always are embedded within the original comic book versions. I only know this because my kids tell me about it (via their YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok research). 

If you are a superhero fan, you probably are familiar with this famous line:

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Uncle ben

This is, of course, from the origin story of Spider-Man, who is a favorite superhero in our home. A large part of Spider-Man’s appeal is his backstory. This is it in a nutshell.

Peter Parker is a nerdy high school kid who is picked on and struggling to find his place. By chance, He is bitten by a radioactive spider, which gives him supernatural powers. Suddenly, Peter can climb walls, has amazing strength, and can process information rapidly. Initially, he uses this power for personal gain, leading Peter down a dangerous path. But a robbery gone wrong finally gives weight to his story.

Peter’s uncle was the victim of a robbery that turned into murder, for which Peter is partially responsible. At this moment, Uncle Ben utters those famous words to Peter. Sensing that Peter has these new powers and abilities, he challenges Peter to also take the responsibility attached to them. 

This tragedy, wrapped in poignant words, shapes Peter Parker into the Amazing Spiderman.

As followers of Jesus, we have origin stories too. Our stories go beyond our lives to the beginning of time – Genesis. These are the stories that shape you into a true follower of Jesus.

Noah, Abraham, and Joseph: Origin Stories of Disappointment

When we think of the stories of the men and women in the book of Genesis (and most of the Bible), we think of their amazing faith. Noah trusted God, so he built a Titanic-sized zoo. Abraham believed in God’s word, left his home, and wandered the countryside searching for God’s promises. Joseph heard God in dreams, and he rose to second in power in the known world, saving his family along the way.

They and so many others fill us with faith, but their stories are much deeper and nuanced than that. 

None of those men could display such deep faith without experiencing great pain along the way. Noah saw the world destroyed. All he knew and loved (outside his family) was gone. Abraham was promised not just a family but a nation, yet he waited 25 (long) years to see a legitimate son born to his wife.

But these don’t come close to Joseph’s story of heartache.

Pain was a part of Joseph’s story

Joseph was the next to the youngest of twelve brothers. All twelve brothers shared the same father but had different mothers. This, along with their father’s overt favoritism, caused a deep rift between Joseph and the older brothers (that and Joseph flaunting his dreams of the entire family bowing down to him in the future). 

So, his brothers deal with him in an unbelievably cruel way. They toss Joseph into a pit and only pull him out to sell him to a band of slavers. 

Joseph spends the next 13 years of his life as a slave and prisoner after being unjustly accused of rape. Before rising to power and saving the world, Joseph endures horrific pain.

Pain was a part of Joseph’s story.

I think you see where I’m going with this, but let me give you one more piece of your origin story.

Pain was a part of Jesus’ story

Our backstory is deeper than just the book of Genesis. It encompasses the entire Old Testament—Moses, Deborah, Gideon, Ruth, David, Solomon, Elisha, Esther, and many more. Yet, it’s the New Testament that allows all of these stories to take shape and make sense.

The coming of Jesus changed everything, but Jesus’ life wasn’t easy.

His difficulties began at birth. He was born on the road, in a cave, and his first bed was an empty feeding trough. His earliest years were spent on the run, living in a foreign land, with his parents constantly looking over their shoulders. 

We love the stories of Jesus healing the blind, raising the dead, and casting out demons. We are amazed at the teachings and the insight into life Jesus gave. Everyone applauds Jesus for pushing back against the religious leaders who oppressed the poor in spirit. However, we shy away from Jesus, living on the generosity of others, being threatened by the power brokers, and ultimately assassinated by a ruthless empire.

I hope you see it, but I’ll be blunt if not.

Pain is embedded into your origin story.

Disappointment will be part of your story, too.

Heartache was in the story of our Old Testament heroes. Pain was weaved in Jesus’ story. The great leaders of the New Testament church knew disappointment in their physical realities, and it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Jesus promised them (and us) that this would be the case:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  -John 16:33 NLT

Jesus top follower, Peter, told a faithful group of Jesus followers something similar in his letters:

“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”  -1 Peter 1:6 NLT

The term ‘Christian’ literally means ‘little Christ’. Your goal as a follower of Jesus is to be like Jesus. We should always stretch to transform from corrupt and evil to righteous and holy. This transformation requires heartache, pain, and disappointment.

So, where’s the hope?

I’m sure you are asking, where is the hope? In my last post, I promised this to be a note of hope as we suffer through disappointment with God. God may seem far away, distant, or even hidden to you right now.

You may be dealing with the loss of a loved one, a marriage that is falling apart, or a child who refuses to speak with you. It could be your dreams that seemed so possible and clear just a few years ago are all but lost.

Where is the hope?

Here is the hope…there is purpose in your pain.

Purpose in your disappointment.

In Joseph’s story, he ascended from his jail cell (really the cell of a foreign slave, which might be the lowest of all society). He interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream through the hand of God, so Pharaoh appointed him as the second most powerful man in the nation (and by proxy, the 2nd most powerful man in the known world). Joseph developed a food program preparing for the coming famine, and 20 years after he was sold off into slavery, he met his brothers again. 

Joseph saved his family by moving them to Egypt. Not long after this move, Jacob, their father, died. This caused great anxiety for his brothers. They feared Joseph would finally exact revenge on these brothers. In desperation, they fell on their knees before Joseph, but Joseph’s response shocked them. It should shock you, too.

This is not just for Joseph and his brothers. It is for me and you, too. 

“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”  -Genesis 50:20 NKJV

In other words, God used Joseph’s heartache for a greater purpose.

Again, this is reason for hope. Pain alone does not shape you; purpose is also part of your origin story.

The heartache, pain, and disappointment you are suffering is for a reason. God is not the author of your pain, but God will use your pain for good.

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” -Romans 8:28 NLT

This, friend, is the hope you are looking for. 

God’s purpose is your good.

Yes, you may be disappointed with God. He may not be acting as you expected, but God is not unaware. God is preparing to move through you in a way that would not be possible without the pain you are walking through right now.

To be clear, God did not create the heartache you are experiencing. He is the father of light — all good things come from him (James 1). Our fallen nature leads to horrible things (like being thrown into a pit, slavery, murder, divorce, broken relationships, or financial hardships), but God finds a way to use them for good. God’s design is to transform our pain into our good and the good of those around us.

The key is your willingness to move through your pain to find healing and wholeness so that God can do incredible things through you. I’ll share more about this in the next two weeks — being real with God, yourself, and others, and holding onto Jesus.

So prepare yourself to begin walking purposefully through your pain. This will be your guide through your disappointment with God.

Writing Playlist 

I don’t know if we have the same taste in music, but here are some songs to explore. All the links go to Spotify. While writing this post, this is some of what I was listening to:

• Jazz-Funk Playlist – Spotify Curated
• Worship Music 2024 – Spotify Playlist
• Squabble – Miles Minnick + Key’ijah