We are in desperate need of something. We desperately want something.

The Bible says Jesus told His disciples, “Ask and it shall be given, seek and you will find, knock and it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7-11). But things rarely work that way, it seems. We do not get what we wanted. A person we are praying for dies anyway. We do not get the opportunity. Obama gets elected to a SECOND TERM!

We seem to have missed the miracle. We are constantly disappointed. People of faith get filled with bitterness, hatred, and anger and reject God and everything about Him. If God was God then surely He could have healed my son, surely He could have saved this relationship, surely He could have acted supernaturally! Why God?

I am not attempting to answer the eternal question of pain in a couple paragraphs. Believe me, this question is bigger than me. It is bigger than any of us, yet it is something that has been attempted to be tackled by many famous authors.

A few years ago, I wrote a screenplay about disappointment with God based on a idea that a friend and I were kicking around. It was also influenced by Philip Yancey’s book, Disappointment with God. The idea that my friend and I were kicking around was of an angel that comes to earth. However, I totally did not want this to be a happy story as my friend did, so we parted ways on it. I wanted it to be a treatment of this problem of pain from the perspective of someone coming from behind the scenes and the perspective of someone on Earth who is wondering what is going on behind the scenes. I called it, Disappointment with God (nothing real shocking, but it was a provocative title for a play or movie). I consider it one of my finest ideas and one of my finest screenplays.

In the screenplay, the angel Lou comes to Earth after constantly being sent on missions that do not seem to bear fruit in the hearts of the people he is sent to. He becomes disillusioned with the people of Earth, thinking them noble savages who would respond to God and His Word, if only they could get even more of a  glimpse of what is going on behind the scenes. “God if only you would heal that poor child, then they would believe!” Being that God will not allow this, he gets upset and decides to “fall” and help them out directly.  Meanwhile, a man on Earth named Peter is struggling to believe in God and that God is good despite many horrible things he has to deal with. Through being among mortals, Lou loses his heavenly perspective on suffering while all the time Peter is gaining in faith through his trials and tribulations. In the end, Lou is so far removed from heaven and God’s will that he does not even really remember Heaven or believe in God while Peter increases in his faith that God is good despite going through horror.

I think that God wants that. I think that God wants our faith in Him, our hope in Him, and our love centered on Him, more than He wants us to have everything we want or even think we need. 

That does not change the Word of God when He said that we should ask, but it certainly puts it in alignment with what He really wants: a relationship with us. He wants to be in relationship with us now and eternally. That seems to be more significant to me, but I admit it when I see myself in real need, it is of little consequence. I want fulfillment and I want it NOW! As Mr. Costanza said, “Serenity NOW!” Yet, we need to remember that desire and suffering is part of life in this world and always will be. All of the horrors of this universe can be faced with faith, hope, and love in the Master of the Universe.

Psalm 119:116 “Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed. Uphold me, and I will be delivered; I will always have regard for your decrees.”

—————————————————–W.