Disappointment With God

Book Review.

Yancey, Philip. Disappointment With God. Three questions no one asks aloud. Zondervan. 1988

Comment. Henry
Philip addresses an issue about God that many people seem to experience at different levels and can be summarized in three questions. Is God unfair? Is God silent? Is God hidden? The questions are discussed around people’s experiences, especially the experiences of a young friend Richard a student at Wheaton. Disappointment with God arises out of doubt. Although doubt can and should be healthy leading to a strengthening of one’s faith it can also be devastating. Philip addresses the issue of devastating doubt.

God not ‘coming through’ for people in specific situations is not a rare experience. Philip relates several stories of examples of how God did not ‘come through’ for people. The story of God’s covenant with Israel is cited as an example of God giving clear guidance to people who nevertheless failed to live up to their part of the covenant. “All feelings of disappointment with God trace back to a breakdown of that relationship”, (53) with God.

When God created man with the freedom of choice he took a huge risk of limitation. The Old Testament stories abound with examples of how these choices have resulted in relationships that developed and flourished but also with relationships that were devastated and destroyed. They are often described as a parent/child relationship. In that relationship love cannot be forced and therein lies its potential ruin. God is holy and man is sinful. David and Solomon are examples of relationships with God at their best. The prophets of old often asked questions that very strongly implied “God’s unfairness, silence, and hiddenness”. (85) And yet it was exactly through the prophets that God declared his indescribable love. There is an over riding theme of hope in the story of mankind that points to a better future.

Even the appearance of Jesus Christ the incarnated Messiah did not remove experiences of disappointment with God. These experiences were fueled by incorrect concepts of how the Messiah would accomplish his goals. Jesus attempted to deal with these disappointments through his teachings. His death on the cross dealt with the sin that in the past caused God to respond to man’s action with rage. Forgiveness of sin(s) opens the flood gates of God’s love.

When the Holy Spirit came, at Pentecost, to indwell the church, Christ’s bride, God was taking another ‘risk’. This body with its flawed parts represents God’s holiness and is charged with doing God’s work. When Saul was persecuting the church he was persecuting Jesus.

God’s goal is not to overwhelm us with the miraculous but to reconcile us by his love. The book of Job addresses the issue of being disappointment with God. “Job is primarily about faith in its starkest form.” (163) The contest of the book is not between God and Job but between God and Satan and Job is exhibit A. In that sense it was a reenactment of the Garden scene. The most common curse words in the English language ‘God damn’ proclaim that life is not fair and/or God is unfair. The truth of that curse is that God was damned, in our place.

We do well to benefit from how God responds to Job after all the discussion explaining his experience. “God doesn’t explain. He explodes.” (190) He has chosen to limit himself in our day and age by inhabiting us the members of his body to reveal himself to the world. The unfairness, silence, and hiddenness of God are still themes that are part of stories from those who are disappointed with God. Regarding Job’s experience, “the real battle ended when Job refused to give up on God thus causing Satan to lose The Wager”. (240)