Participants:
Series Code: RQRA
Program Code: RQRA000001A
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00:01 I don't understand
00:04 why did this have to happen to me? 00:08 I feel like I just can't make sense of things. 00:12 I need answers. 00:15 Where is God? 00:20 Where is God? 00:25 It's a huge question. 00:26 It's a question that has led to people rejecting God, 00:31 adopting atheism because they didn't believe 00:33 that God was there when they needed Him. 00:36 We're going to look at that question today. 00:38 Welcome to Raw Questions Relevant Answers. 00:41 In this program, we address questions 00:43 that young people have sent in. 00:45 People like yourself are asking these questions, 00:48 and we're going to take a look at that today. 00:49 My name is Michelle Doucoumes. 00:51 I'm your host, and I have my co-hosts with me, 00:54 Dee Casper and Mark Paden. 00:56 We have some big questions here today, guys. 00:59 And we're going to jump right into this 01:01 because I believe these are super important questions 01:04 for our life and for our faith. 01:07 First question comes from a 15-year-old female 01:10 in Tennessee who's saying, 01:12 "I don't understand the meaning of my life. 01:15 I feel alone. 01:17 God doesn't give any evidence that He is here. 01:20 I know He hates me 01:22 because He's never seemed to care. 01:25 Why am I such a failure? 01:27 I gave up such a long time ago. 01:30 When will God become real in my life?" 01:35 Wow. 01:36 You know, I have to say 01:37 there is a lot of beauty in this question 01:40 because it's raw. 01:41 You know, it's something that it's... 01:45 I think we sometimes hold back on some of these questions 01:48 because we feel like, 01:49 you know, somebody is going to judge us 01:52 for or think less of us because of it, 01:54 but I just want to commend the person 01:56 who's asked this question 01:58 because, you know, praise the Lord 01:59 that they're willing to be honest 02:00 with what they're feeling. 02:02 You know, the first thing I want to say to is that, 02:06 you know, we live in the reality 02:07 of a great controversy, a battle between good and evil 02:11 where Satan is constantly trying to hurt us 02:14 and make us feel bad. 02:16 Satan wants to discourage us. 02:18 That's the plain and simple thing 02:20 because if he can discourage us 02:21 and get us to think that God is against us, 02:24 then he can get us into temptation, 02:26 he can get us to sin and leave God. 02:29 So the first thing that... 02:31 I think the first part of this answer 02:32 that I would give is, you know, 02:34 just for us to realize that 02:38 God is not as bad as Satan portrays Him to be. 02:41 God is actually a lot better 02:43 than how Satan portrays Him to be. 02:46 And the picture we see of God 02:47 is throughout Scripture is God pursuing people 02:50 who don't appreciate, who don't understand, 02:52 who will question Him, 02:54 the text that comes to my mind immediately is... 02:55 Go to Isaiah 49. Okay. 02:58 Isaiah 49, that all throughout the Old Testament 03:02 and the New Testament, 03:03 we see this, God pursuing His people, 03:05 they reject Him, they don't want to hear from Him. 03:07 They want nothing to do with Him. 03:08 And yet He keeps pursuing. 03:10 And then there's this situation in verse 14, 03:15 Isaiah 49:14 says, 03:18 "But Zion said..." 03:19 This is the people whom God has blessed, 03:22 whom God has sustained with life, 03:23 who's opened doors for them 03:25 and brought them lands and other things. 03:27 And then it says, "But Zion..." 03:28 Isaiah 49:14, Zion has said, "The Lord has forsaken me, 03:32 and my Lord has forgotten me." 03:35 And this resonates with the listener here, 03:38 the person who has asked this question 03:39 that seems like God isn't here, He doesn't care. 03:41 But listen to the response of God in verse 15, 03:45 "Can a woman forget her nursing child 03:47 and not have compassion on the son of her womb?" 03:50 He's using the most powerful, emotional language 03:53 He can find as far as that bond, right? 03:54 A closeness. 03:56 And He says, "Certainly, they may forget, 03:58 yet I will not forget you." 04:01 And then He says, 04:02 "See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands, 04:05 your walls are continually before Me." 04:07 This is explicit Calvary language. 04:10 If there's anything that shows that God cares, 04:13 that God has not forgotten us, it's Calvary. 04:15 And He's foretelling what will happen, 04:18 but the point is it's still this is true now, 04:20 so we feel like God isn't there, God doesn't care, 04:23 He just wants to give us a reminder 04:24 in the same way he dealt with the Israelites, 04:26 He'll say to us. 04:27 "Maybe your mother could forget you, 04:30 but I can't because I've paid for you, 04:33 I've bought you, 04:34 and your name is inscribed on the palms of My hands." 04:37 It's really interesting to me in that verse 04:39 that it talks about how your walls 04:41 are continually before Me. 04:45 We have walls in our lives, 04:48 sometimes it's because difficult things 04:50 have happened in our lives, and thus it's made it 04:53 that we protect ourselves 04:55 from other people by putting walls. 04:58 And even subconsciously, this can happen with God, 05:01 we can know intellectually, Jesus loves me, 05:04 He died for me, 05:05 but because of either things we've done 05:07 or other people have done to us, 05:09 the results of our sinful world that we live in, 05:11 it's like a wall goes around our heart. 05:15 And it's difficult because God may be there, 05:18 but we can't see Him through that wall. 05:20 We may not even realize that we have that wall. 05:23 And I love the fact that God is still there. 05:27 He's in the business of trying to break through, 05:30 to find cracks to get in, 05:32 and I invite whoever asked this question 05:34 to maybe think about the fact 05:36 that just because we can't sense God, 05:38 could it be that He's still there, 05:41 and we just can't see it. 05:43 Yes. And this is a picture throughout Scripture. 05:45 I mean, the chiefest example is Jesus Himself on the cross, 05:49 when He literally feels forsaken by God Himself. 05:52 He says, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" 05:56 But we are told in Romans 05:58 that God was in Christ reconciling 06:00 the world to Himself. 06:02 You know, if there's these dark clouds 06:05 all around the cross when Jesus is dying, 06:07 one is tempted to ask the question like, 06:09 "What if God Himself was actually there 06:12 beside Jesus at the cross?" 06:14 You know, there's many instances 06:15 where I think that we see 06:17 this evidence of God being present, 06:18 and we don't sense it at the time, 06:20 but He has been. 06:22 And I think it's a good reminder. 06:24 You know, one other point that I'd like to make 06:26 in regards to this person feeling like a failure 06:28 and like God isn't interested in them, 06:30 doesn't care about them because they failed. 06:33 One of the most beautifully redemptive stories 06:35 in the Old Testament 06:37 is the story of Jonah in Nineveh, right? 06:39 So at the beginning in Jonah 1:2, 06:44 God comes to Jonah and says, "Arise, go to Nineveh, 06:47 that great city, and cry against it, 06:49 for their wickedness has come up before Me." 06:51 Like this city is so bad 06:54 that God has to tell prophet to go and talk to them 06:58 because they're that wicked, 07:00 like this is an exceptionally wicked city. 07:02 I mean, more wicked 07:03 than a lot of the other nations around them, right? 07:05 This is how bad it's getting, 07:06 and yet God tells Jonah to go there. 07:08 And as the story progresses, Jonah doesn't want to go. 07:11 He's terrified of it. 07:12 So he runs from God, 07:13 he gets eventually in this bad storm, 07:16 he gets thrown into the ocean, 07:17 and then God sends a whale to come and grab him 07:21 and take him back to Nineveh. 07:23 And then once he's repented, 07:24 he's willing to go and speak to the Ninevites. 07:28 And then God originally said, 07:30 "Look, if you guys don't repent, 07:32 there's going to be some bad stuff happening." 07:34 And then they repent, and then God doesn't do it. 07:37 He saves them, He spares them. 07:39 Now this is the story of a city that was incredibly wicked, 07:44 totally against God, had no desire for God. 07:47 They were just straight up rebellious and wicked. 07:50 And yet, look at the tenderness that God is dealing with them. 07:53 He did so much to get them 07:56 to be willing to come back to Him. 07:58 And that's what He's going to do for somebody 08:00 that's totally rebellious, 08:02 what about if we keep failing and we're struggling, 08:04 and we're hurting? 08:06 Like a parent wouldn't reprimand a child 08:11 when they keep failing and failing 08:14 if they're trying. 08:15 It's like God even made it... 08:17 He cared so much, He sent a fish to swallow a man 08:21 just to give him a chance. 08:22 Pretty crazy, and, you know, 08:25 not cutting this conversation off, 08:27 the second question really relates to this as well. 08:29 And I want to read this. 08:30 It says, this is from a 16-year-old female 08:33 from Maryland, "How do I know God exist? 08:36 Whenever I ask Him to help me, He is never there. 08:40 Like I've lived the Christian life, 08:41 done all the right things, yet He is not there for me. 08:45 It's like praying to a wall." 08:46 And so I want to flip that question a little bit. 08:49 We know that, like you said, 08:51 God is compassionate 08:52 even when we are doing maybe the wrong things, 08:56 but what about when we're doing 08:57 what we think are the right things? 08:59 Trying to live the Christian life, 09:01 we're still not maybe experiencing God how we would. 09:04 One of the examples that comes to my mind 09:05 immediately is John the Baptist, 09:07 like this is a guy who is called by Jesus 09:10 and given a commendation by Jesus. 09:12 He's the greatest prophet that ever has lived 09:13 and ever will live. 09:15 And yet this guy, 09:16 as soon as Jesus' ministry comes on the scene, 09:19 when Jesus... 09:20 You would think that He's going to be there 09:22 to see all the miracles that Jesus performs, 09:23 he ends up in prison. 09:25 And it's not because he ends up in prison 09:27 'cause he did something wrong, 09:28 he's incarcerated for only doing what was right. 09:31 And yet, even in this moment, there is a God in heaven 09:33 who loved him, who ministered to his needs 09:36 while he was in that prison cell 09:37 and reminded him of the precious promises of Scripture. 09:40 And even Jesus send the message to him, 09:41 telling him, "I am who you thought I was 09:45 and don't lose sight of that." 09:46 And so I think that there's pictures throughout Scripture 09:49 of people who stood for the right 09:51 and ended up dealing up with difficulty. 09:52 Daniel's another, Mary, Martha and Lazarus, 09:56 people who were good friends of Jesus, 09:57 who went through a great tragedy, 09:59 and yet God brought great glory out of the tragedy 10:02 and the difficultly in a way that they didn't expect. 10:05 They thought He would bring glory out of it 10:06 by healing Lazarus, 10:07 but Jesus bought even more glory 10:09 by raising him from the dead. 10:10 So I hear you saying that sometimes 10:12 God's deliverance comes like Daniel or Shadrach, 10:16 Meshach, and Abednego, 10:17 and He takes them out of the trouble 10:19 or maybe sometimes like John the Baptist, 10:21 God doesn't deliver that way, 10:23 but it doesn't mean that God wasn't there 10:25 or that they did something wrong. 10:27 You know, I want to put in an analogy on this. 10:29 You know, one of the biggest things 10:30 that interferes in interpersonal, 10:32 especially romantic relationships 10:33 is failed expectations, right? 10:36 People will think 10:37 that their significant other doesn't love them 10:41 or doesn't care about them 10:42 when they fail to meet a certain expectation, 10:45 but that isn't necessarily always 10:47 your partner's problem. 10:49 It's sometimes are unreasonable expectations. 10:52 And I think sometimes we kind of come to God, 10:55 can I say with unreasonable expectation sometimes. 10:58 We want God to do certain things for us, 11:00 and we hinge His love of us 11:02 on doing that particular thing for us. 11:04 This is totally true. 11:06 There's actually a commentary on the life of Christ 11:07 called Desire of Ages. 11:08 It has this amazing line, 11:10 I believe it was in the context of John the Baptist, 11:12 but it could be Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, 11:13 but it's relevant in either case, 11:15 where it literally says that they were looking for a Messiah 11:17 who had not been promised, 11:20 and they were discouraged 11:21 because their expectations are based upon 11:23 what they thought Jesus would do 11:25 and when Jesus didn't do those things, 11:26 they thought, "He doesn't love me, He doesn't care." 11:29 But the problem wasn't that Jesus had overpromised 11:31 and underdelivered. 11:33 It's that Jesus didn't meet their expectations 11:36 as opposed to what He said He would do. 11:38 The amazing thing is even in spite of that, 11:40 He got glory out of those situations 11:41 in amazing and powerful ways. 11:43 For sure. 11:44 The story of John the Baptist 11:46 has been an inspiration to many souls 11:48 who die in lonely prison cells, 11:51 who were martyrs on behalf of Christ 11:52 in Dark Ages or other times. 11:54 And his story did that for them because God never left him, 11:57 and God knew that he could stand. 11:59 So you're staying that God was doing something. 12:01 He was meeting, maybe even bigger expectations, 12:04 but it wasn't what we expected and that happens. 12:08 We have one more question, and it's pretty big here. 12:10 It says, "Why should I keep trying something 12:13 that does not work? 12:15 The very definition of an idiot 12:17 is someone trying the same thing 12:19 over and over again expecting different results. 12:21 It seems hopeless." 12:23 What would you say to someone 12:25 who's maybe been trying with God, 12:26 but it's been a bit discouraged like that? 12:29 You know, I think honestly, 12:32 I think a lot of it does get back to expectations, 12:36 and also the soil of our own heart. 12:40 It's here in Hebrews 11, 12:44 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, 12:47 for he that cometh to God must believe 12:49 that He is and that He is a rewarder 12:51 of them that diligently seek Him." 12:53 You know, when we come to God, 12:56 one of the most important things is 12:58 that we come in a submissive contrite way 13:01 and in a way that is believing His promises, 13:05 claiming them, and truly seeking Him. 13:08 And the promise is, if we diligently seek Him, 13:11 we will find Him, and we can claim that promise 13:14 when we're seeking Him 13:15 when He doesn't seem to be there. 13:17 We can claim that promise. 13:18 Jesus says, "If any man come unto Me, 13:20 I will no wise cast him out." 13:22 And I remember reading this touching letter 13:23 that's written by one of the founders of our church 13:26 to someone who is struggling. 13:27 And they told them that, 13:29 you know, "If you bring this one promise to Jesus," 13:31 and it may seem like it's the only one you have, 13:32 "But if you come unto Me, you will no wise be cast out." 13:35 They said, "If you claim this promise, 13:37 and that's all you got, 13:38 you are safe as though inside of the city of God." 13:41 Whoa! 13:43 And so no matter how you feel, what else is going on, 13:46 if you trust that He says, "If you come to Me, 13:47 I'm not going to cast you out." 13:49 Those are the words of Jesus, take them to the bank. 13:51 Yeah. Wow! 13:52 So for those of you out here watching 13:54 who may also be asking these questions, 13:56 where is God, what is happening, 13:59 I just really encourage you don't give up. 14:02 We have a God who is pursuing us, 14:05 who wants to have a relationship with us, 14:08 and is waiting for that. 14:09 Please continue to watch, 14:11 and we will continue to do to have answers. |
Revised 2018-07-16