When The Answer Disappoints Part 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Faith always leads to ultimate victory, but may not change our immediate circumstances. Today we'll come full circle in our series on unanswered prayer, and then find ourselves content with the God to whom we pray.

From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, as you wrap up the triumph of unanswered prayer, you're giving us a powerful Old Testament example of how to respond when the answer disappoints. Yes, Dave, it is so important for us to know how to respond, no matter how God answers or if he does not answer at all.

I want to ask everyone who is listening a very important question. Are you comfortable with the unpredictability of God? You just don't know what he's going to do. Is he going to answer your prayer? Is he not?

We don't know. But blessed are all those who are willing to accept whatever God gives them. I believe that this series of messages is a great encouragement to all those who have struggled with unanswered prayer, all those who are disappointed in God, and even those who are angry with God because he did not come through for them as they thought he should.

It's an issue that we need to face directly. Today is the last day we are making available this series of messages entitled The Triumph of Unanswered Prayer. For a gift of any amount, these messages can be yours in a permanent form in CD so that you can listen to them again and again, share them with your friends. Ask for The Triumph of Unanswered Prayer.

Go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now let us listen carefully to God's Word. I want to give you an illustration of how people of faith accept disappointment.

How do they do it? And why is it that they can ultimately be blessed even though they don't see the miracle they desire? Let me read you a story that is very familiar to all of you. It's found in the book of Daniel and it has to do with three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Bible school we used to say, shake the bed, make the bed, and into bed you go.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The king says to them, bow down before this image. If you do not bow down before this image, I will throw you into the fiery furnace. By the way, something not quite like that, but something approaching it could end up being our lot as well. But this is what they say.

I love this. Oh, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. In other words, there's no use even discussing this. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But now notice. But if not, be it known unto you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. God can deliver us if he wants to, but if he doesn't, we will be people who die in faith believing that God knows best. Are you to that point in your Christian experience? Oh God, we know that you are able to heal so and so.

We know that you're able to take care of this situation. But if you don't, let angels and demons and anyone else around me know that I will not swerve in my commitment to you because faith isn't merely receiving from God the things that I want. Faith is the ability to receive whatever God gives me. Let it be known that I'll continue to believe. You say, well, what does the text mean when it talks about faith leading to ultimate victory? I'm still in chapter 11 and I'm in verse 39. All these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised since God had provided something better for us that apart from us, they should not be made perfect.

What's going on there in the text? First of all, they died in faith and they didn't receive what was promised. As we mentioned in an earlier message, Abraham did not see the fulfillment of the promises that God gave him. God says, Abraham, you're going to have a land and you're going to have that land. I'm going to give it to you and to your prosperity. Prosperity, I think I mean to say. But he also promised him prosperity. Yes, that's right. You know, sometimes when you're speaking, you get your mings fixed up and you begin backing talk words.

It happens every once in a while. He says, Abraham, you're going to have children and they're going to inherit it, but this land is yours. And he has to buy a plot of ground to bury his wife, Sarah, the cave of MacPhela. So there's Abraham. He's dying without seeing the fulfillment of the promises.

Moses dies and his sins are forgiven, most assuredly, but he's not seeing the fulfillment of all of the promises. Jesus hasn't come yet. That's why the text says that without us, they couldn't be made perfect. I mean, if you were here when I preached about this just at Founders Week, you'll notice that I preached about how people were saved in the Old Testament.

They were saved on credit. And so you see, until Jesus came, they could not be made perfect. Their sin could not be finally taken away. And so you see, because they were prior to Calvary, they had faith that Jesus would come eventually and take away their sin. We look back and we thank God that he has come to take away our sin, but both are heroes of faith, but they die without the promise of Jesus fulfilled. And they had to wait for Christ and for us, so to speak, before they see its fulfillment.

But the bottom line is simply this, is that we die without seeing many of the promises. I believe that it's very clear in scripture that God calls his people to suffer. He calls his people to suffer. There's no doubt about it that if you look at the history of the Christian church and you look at the various passages of scripture about suffering, God does not promise instant deliverance from suffering.

We always want it. We always want to see God come and deliver us, give us health, give us strength, work it out, do it for us. And God says, no I'm not, because I want to teach you the value of faith whether I do it for you or not. Let's talk about healing. Let's talk about cancer, the big C. I think that whenever God gives somebody cancer, he gives a Christian cancer too, so that the world can see the difference as to how they suffer.

And they do suffer differently. When my friend with whom I played tennis for 20 years, this might not be the place to insert some humor, but I shall, he and I did play tennis for 20 years, that is with breaks in between of course, you know, we played once or twice a week and our wives put up with it, because most tennis players are actually not very good husbands and fathers, because you see to a tennis player, love means nothing. But on a more serious note, here's this friend with whom I played tennis for 20 years and he's dying of cancer and I visited him as often as I could. And I would say to him, Mark, have you ever thanked God for cancer?

I'll never forget this because at that point he was so weak that he could hardly walk. He said, oh, he said, I thank God every day for my cancer. Did Mark love his wife? Did he love his grandchildren and other children?

Of course, of course. But he said, I have seen the glories of heaven and the presence of God in ways, he said, cancer clarifies, clarifies your values. You finally really know what is important and what isn't. And all of the things that we give so much attention to our entertainment and our comforts, suddenly all that becomes very unimportant. It was Samuel Johnson, your member, who said that there is nothing that focuses the human mind more than the knowledge that one is to be hanged in a fortnight.

There's nothing that clarifies it. He said the presence of God and the assurance of heaven is overwhelming. He suffered well.

He died well. Cyprian, the great church historian and theologian, he said that Christianity would have never encompassed North Africa and conquered it in the early centuries were it not for the plagues. He says the plagues were the greatest blessing to Christianity. And the reason is because the Christians died differently than the pagans. The pagans said of the Christians, they carry their dead as if in triumph. And the pagans said, where are you getting all this hope from?

We want what you have. And that's why they accepted Christianity. Faith always leads to ultimate victory.

Sometimes it doesn't change your circumstances. You think for example of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus related to him in the flesh, sort of like a half cousin. And John the Baptist was a great man and he was suddenly thrown into prison. And here was John's problem. He was reading the Old Testament and he discovered that in the book of Isaiah, it said that when the Messiah comes, the prison doors are to be opened and the captives are to be set free.

So John thought, I am suffering unjustly under Herod. Surely if Jesus were the Messiah, now this is the great guy, you know, who preached those sermons on the banks of the Jordan River. He said to himself, if Jesus were the Messiah, then I would be delivered. Those are the kinds of things that messiahs do.

They deliver people. So John the Bible says, sent a delegation to Jesus. And there's no doubt that he tried to be as tactful as he possibly could. But he said to his friends, go talk to Jesus and ask him this question. Art thou he that should come?

Or should we look for another? Jesus, you're disappointing to me. If you're the Messiah, I don't see how you are fulfilling scripture. By the way, is it okay to have doubts? Yes, it's fine to have doubts. I sometimes say that he who has never doubted, perhaps has never believed. I may be talking to many of you who have doubts. And one of the slogans that we could use here at the Moody Church in our ministry is, come here and bring your doubts. Because we want to talk about doubts.

We want to even talk about evidence and all those other things. But it is possible for a Christian through a low point in their lives, not seeing a miracle, it is possible to begin to doubt. But will you never forget this? It was when he was in prison doubting that Jesus said to that delegation, there's no man that is greater than John the Baptist. Jesus didn't say, well, you know, now that he's begun to doubt, my opinion of him is beginning to slide.

No, there's no one greater than John the Baptist. It's okay if you have doubts, as long as they're honest doubts. If you're a dishonest doubter, there's nothing we can do for you.

But if you're an honest one, that's all right. So John the Baptist, the Bible says, the delegation returns and they tell him this because Jesus said, look, tell John, look, the dead are being raised, the deaf are hearing, the blind are seeing. And then John, I want you to know this. Jesus said, blessed is he who is not offended because of me. Could I give you a Lutzer paraphrase on that? Jesus was saying, John, blessed is the person who is not upset with the way I run my business. Blessed is the person who does not say, if that's the kind of God you serve, if he didn't heal that God, I'm out of here. Blessed is the person who does not say, in light of the fact that God did not resolve this situation and deliver this person, in light of that, I'm never going to bother God with another request again, to quote the words of one Christian. Blessed is the person who says, I'm going to pray, I'm going to seek God, I'm going to ask him to deliver, I'm going to ask for the miracles, but at the end of the day, I'm going to be satisfied with a way in which God runs his business. It is then that you and I can handle the disappointments of life.

We can take unanswered prayer because we believe that God's will is best and we also know that the trial of our faith, as I mentioned, is more precious than gold that perishes. And if you live that way, you also will be in God's catalog of the heroes of faith who went on to die without seeing all of the promises fulfilled. Well, you say, Pastor Luther, that's wonderful, but where do I begin this walk of faith?

Where do we begin this? Some of you say, I can't trust God for anything because I don't know God. I'm disconnected from God.

Well, I have some good news for you. When Jesus came to this earth because he was willing to do the will of God and because he said in Gethsemane, not my will, but thine be done, because he was willing to do that. When he died on the cross, he made a sacrifice for sinners. His sacrifice was so complete that the Father accepted it.

Jesus said it is finished and to prove that God had accepted it, he raised Jesus from the dead and Jesus is now seated in heaven. But he's here by his spirit because God is everywhere. As a matter of fact, he's even monitoring your heart and your mind and all that you are as a human being.

And here's the good news now. If you receive Jesus as your savior, that's one of those promises that you can depend on 100% of the time. I can't promise you that God is going to heal you, but I can promise you that God will save you if you will trust Christ as your savior. And if while you are listening to this, you know in your heart who you are and you've never trusted Christ and you have no assurance that you belong to him, this is your moment because God brought you here today. God enabled you to listen today, radio, internet, whatever means of communication so that you would come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

That's a promise that you can depend upon 100% of the time. And then we begin the journey of faith and we say, God, you know what I want you to do, A, B, C, D, but if you don't, I will never stop believing you, trusting you and loving you because at the end of the day, I don't want to be upset with the way you run your business. Let's bow together in prayer. Father, I pray for all those who are angry with you because you haven't answered prayer. I pray for all those, and certainly we include ourselves in all of this, who have been disappointed with you because you haven't come through at a crucial moment and we expected better and we didn't get it.

We expected you to deliver some missionaries some time ago and they ended up being shot to death. Father, we pray that we might confess that bitterness and that disappointment and that we might say to you from the depths of our hearts, we surrender to you today and we don't want to be upset with the way you run your business. For those who have never trusted Christ, enable them to do it. Now, they're listening to my voice, but I pray that they may be listening to the voice of the Spirit through the word saying, this is your moment to believe. Grant that, O God, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, this is Pastor Luther. Would you give me a moment of your time?

I want to speak to you heart to heart. All of us have had disappointment in God. He's allowed circumstances. He has oftentimes not answered our prayers. That's why I believe that this series of messages is so critical. It's critical for our faith.

It is critical for the faith of others. Perhaps you've heard only a few of the messages or even if you have listened to all of them, you know people who need to hear these truths. For a gift of any amount and this is the last day, by the way, we are making you this offer. For a gift of any amount, these messages can be yours in CD form so that you can listen to them again and again. I hope that you have a pencil handy and you can write this down rtwoffer.com, rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337.

When you call or connect online, remember we are dependent upon you and we thank you in advance for helping us help people make it all the way to the finish line, rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Ask for this series of messages, the triumph of unanswered prayer. It's time again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question you may have about the Bible or the Christian life.

Today's question, Dr. Lutzer, comes from a lady who lives in Ohio. I have a question about God's will. I've heard you say that as humans we often carry burdens God never intended us to bear. Do you mean to tell me that the disasters going on in the world today are all by Him?

Does He do evil? Well, my friend, I'm so glad for your question, but actually you asked several questions, many questions really. The first question has to do with, do we sometimes bear burdens that God does not want us to bear?

And the answer is yes. You read the sixth chapter of the book of Matthew where Jesus is saying that God takes care of the birds and the grass and He'll certainly take care of us. So yes, I'm afraid that our anxieties oftentimes overwhelm us when God is available and willing to bear our burdens. Now, the second question that you ask is about natural disasters. And the answer to that question is yes, God takes responsibility for natural disasters. In the Bible, it is very clear that whether it is the darkness during the times of the plague or Jesus stilling the storm as He did on Galilee, all throughout the Bible, you have God involved in the convulsions of nature.

Does He do these directly? Well, perhaps not. He does them indirectly because the earth is fallen, but of course He could choose to not let them happen. So in that sense, everything is traceable to God. But then your next question was, does God do evil? And the answer to that question is no, God does not do evil.

That involves a huge discussion, doesn't it? But God is able to run His universe in such a way that the things that happen in the universe do happen and oftentimes evil happens that He does not stop and yet He remains blameless. And He remains blameless for two reasons. First of all, He is God, so He runs things according to His particular rules and outlook. But secondly, He does not do the evil, even though it may be used as a part of His plan. I know that that's a philosophical and theological conundrum, if I can use that word. But both of those things are taught in Scripture.

Human beings are responsible for evil, and yet God rules among the inhabitants of the earth. Thank you, Dr. Lutzer. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer. Or call us at 1-888-218-9337.

That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. Over a period of 1600 years, God inspired some 40 authors who penned what we now know as the Bible. This book is far more than a collection of writings. It's the revealed Word of God, and that written revelation has the power to change the lives of its readers. Next time on Running to Win, Erwin Lutzer begins a series on Changed by the Word. For Dr. Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.