How Do You Respond When God (seems to) Fail You?
When life doesn’t make sense, and maybe God doesn’t make sense. What do you do? There have likely been times in your life when you thought God failed. How did you handle that?
Our hearts broke this week as news broke of the horrific floods that hit Kerrville, Texas. As of today, Thursday, 7-10-25, 120 people have died, and more than 160 people are still missing. Authorities say they haven’t had a “live rescue” since the day of the flood. Among the missing are five campers and a counselor from the Christian girls camp, Camp Mystic, which counted at least 27 children and staff among the death toll.
This flood hit Kristi and me close to home. A missionary family we served with overseas (he’s 93 now) has a daughter in Kerrville. The missionary’s son and wife, their son and his wife, and 3 grandchildren were all visiting when the flood hit. The house was swept away. The son and his wife, their son, and a granddaughter were all taken by the flood. The son’s body has been recovered, but the other three are yet to be found.
Where Was God?
I share all that to ask this question: Don’t you think multiple people are asking, “Where was God when this happened?” Didn’t He care? Couldn’t He have prevented this?
Don’t you think multiple parents are crying out to God, lamenting,
“Oh, God, we prayed as we sent our girls off to camp. We prayed for You to speak to them, to use them, to transform them, and God, we prayed for their protection! God, why did you not answer our prayers?!?”
So, again – What do we do when life doesn’t make sense?
Hard Questions – With No Easy Answers
I’m teaching my 14-year-old grandson, Levi, to play ping pong. The student has become the teacher as I’ve taught him too well. He’s now better than I. Today, he won more games than I did.
We play at our church on Thursdays. As we leave, we pick up a “spiritual vitamin” from a basket. Walking to the car, we read our verses. I use those verses as a launch point for spiritual conversation. While we eat our ice cream at Sonic (“Guy time” must be rewarded, right?), I’ll ask him questions and see where it goes.
Lessons from Guy Time
Recently, his verse read, “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” Psalm 34:4. I asked Levi about his fears and other general questions, but then God prompted me to go deeper. I queried, “Levi, have you ever prayed and God didn’t answer like you thought he should?” He replied, “Yes, sometimes.” I asked, “Have you ever been mad at God?”
He didn’t want to answer that question. Most of us wouldn’t. It just seems so unspiritual and wrong to be mad at God. I went on to answer, “Levi, I have been angry, or at least, disappointed with God. I didn’t understand when your Aunt Kimberly was not healed. It seemed that was a “good” prayer, an easy prayer for God to answer, but God chose to heal her in heaven.”
God wants us to be honest with Him
The reason I took Levi down this path was that I wanted him to know that God can handle our anger. God wants us to be honest with Him. God doesn’t get offended, like we do, and run and hide. He takes our anger, stays right there, and loves us all the time. God wants to restore fellowship with love, mercy, and grace.
Yes, we can bring our whole heart to God, our boatload of emotions, and our hurts, questions, and fears. Just look at David in the Psalms. David expresses the gamut of emotions, and what did God do? He listened, He waited patiently, He loved, and He restored.
The opposite of love is not hate – The opposite of love is indifference
Yes, God can handle our emotions, even our strong ones expressed in the heat of crisis, hopelessness, or trauma. He does this because He loves us. He wants us to stay close. You see, the opposite of love is not hate – The opposite of love is indifference. The “fear” God has, in a sense, is that you or I walk away, just not caring anymore. Even when life doesn’t make sense, I want to be like Peter, saying, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:67
From our Perspective, God Does Seem to “Fail” Sometimes
God doesn’t meet our expectations. He is God. I am not. He is Love. I will choose to trust Him even when nothing makes sense.
God doesn’t act on our timetable. He is weaving a masterpiece tapestry. I only see the loose, messy threads of the back. I will choose to trust the One who sees the end from the beginning. I prefer to trust His timing.
God doesn’t follow our directions and wishes. Have you ever wanted to help God out as He runs the universe? I have, and, as I look back over the years, I’m so glad I’m not in charge. I choose to trust the one who has good plans for me.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
From a limited perspective, it Appears that God Sometimes “Fails” even the People He Loves
We read the Bible with New Testament eyes, thus, we see the end of many Bible stories, but the beginnings are very messy. Think about how God didn’t make sense to these people:
Joseph – was hated by his brothers, thrown into a pit, nearly killed, sold as a slave, falsely accused, thrown into prison, and forgotten.
Daniel – was taken into captivity and eventually thrown into a lion’s den for doing the right thing, choosing to pray.
Daniel’s three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah – they, too, were taken into captivity, given pagan names seeking to separate them from their God and their heritage, and thrown into a 7-times hotter (perfect) fire for doing the right thing, choosing to worship God rather than the king.
Need I go on? In the midst of their traumatic circumstances, it appeared that God was failing them. But what is the rest of the story? In each case, “God was with them!” In fact, I believe it was Jesus himself in the fire with the 3 Hebrew boys!
I used their Hebrew names on purpose. Hananiah means “God has favored”, Mishael – “One who is like God”, and Azariah – “Jehovah has helped.” Their very names told them in their “gut” and heart that God was there, He was not silent, and their future was secure regardless of the outcome.
The name written on you is “God’s Beloved.”
The name written on you is “God’s Beloved.” When all else fails and nothing else makes sense, hold on to your identity in Christ – You are Beloved!
God is with us, too, amid the fire and the flood. He is with the families who are experiencing unimaginable grief and pain.
We need to be reminded of how God cannot fail.
God Cannot Fail
God never fails to love us. “But God commended his love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8, “For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
God never fails to hear us. “I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.” Psalm 116:1-2
God never fails to hold us. “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him. Psalm 40:1-4
God never fails to care for us. "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you," 1 Peter 5:7, John 3:16, Romans 8:
God never fails to take us home to be with Him. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house forever.” Psalm 23:6
The songwriters get it. From It is Well to He Won’t, there is a plethora of songs about the faithfulness of God and His unfailing, steadfast, everlasting love. The Blessing declares over and over: He is for you, He is with you and He loves and blesses to a thousand generations!
Rest and rejoice in this declaration, based on Revelation 21:4:
And there will be no more night, no more pain,
No more, no more tears, never crying again
And praises to the great, “I am”
We will live in the light of the Risen Lamb
And praises to the great, “I am”
We’re gonna live in the light of the Risen Lamb![i]
How is your soul today? Are you hanging on to God for dear life? That’s ok. Me, too. Not much makes sense these days, but with Habakkuk, I declare, “I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! The Lord my Lord is my strength! Habakkuk 3:18-19.
I’d love to hear from you. Let’s engage in the comments.
[i] No More Night, David Phelps, Curb Word Music, 2001
I appreciate this. You captured something I’ve seen in my own life: we have to face what’s real, what we’re living, what we’re feeling, what’s right in front of us. That’s the truth of our situation. But there’s always a deeper truth beyond what we see and feel. The giants may be there, the furnace may be real, but God is bigger, and we are never alone.
It may look like God has failed, but He never has. Time always proves Him faithful. I love the way you wrote this. It’s solid, honest truth, and I know it’s going to help a lot of folks. I hope everyone reading will subscribe and keep learning from what God is showing you. Thank you for letting us see the Father’s heart in these words.
Thank you for this heartfelt and deeply honest reflection. It’s comforting to be reminded that even biblical heroes went through confusion, grief, and seasons when God’s hand seemed invisible. Your reminder that God can handle our full hearts even the hurting, doubting parts is one I needed today