On Disappointment and Faith

In the mid-nineties, singer and songwriter Tori Amos released a song entitled, “God.”  So far, so good, right?  A secular artist singing about God.  However, this song was not an expression of praise, but a lament of disappointment.  The opening lines that get repeated throughout the song are, “Sometimes, God, you just don’t come through.”  Before we go into defensive mode, let’s acknowledge that it’s felt like that.  Sometimes God doesn’t seem to come through.  We prayed and prayed and nothing changed.  Evil prevails.  Tragedies happen.

There are times when things seem so obvious to us.  Everything we know about God would all but guarantee a certain outcome.  We put the signs together and what God is doing and how he’s working seems crystal clear.  But then it doesn’t happen.  It doesn’t materialize.  God didn’t come through… at least not in the way we thought.  I believe that we can be disappointed without losing our faith.  We can be upset with God and still be every bit his child.  It would be easy to cite how God’s ways are higher than our ways.  But sometimes God’s higher ways are still disappointing to us.  Sure, it will all make sense someday.  But until that day, we can keep our faith and be disappointed at the same time.