The surprising advantage of setbacks.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 9:57AM I've had several very snarky conversations with God lately. I really don't like him much right now. As Mother Teresa said, "God would have more friends if he treated the ones he as better."
Why? In one week, my family and I are making an 800-mile move to the town of our dreams. God has endorsed it and confirmed it. But, he's asked us to go without a job in place. Heck, we don't even know where we'll be living, yet. During the last year of trying to sell our house, we've faced setback after setback: the first contract fell through. Then, we found out that the house we were hoping to rent in the new town was being managed by a guy with a shoddy reputation, and there weren't any other rental listings. Then a great house came open, I flew 800 miles to see the house and sign a lease with a new realtor. I got back home waiting for the lease to to be completed so I could sign-off, and got a call from my realtor that the owner sold the house out from under us. The owner was secretly entertaining a buyer while saying he would rent to us.
Now, the only house available has a hole in the porch wall, concrete debris piled up in the yard, has a nasty hole in the siding, and is swallowed by overgrown hedges so that you can't even see the house from the street. Ah, the joy of renting.
As Philip Yancey wrote, "God would rather we wrestle with him than ignore him." So, as I ranted and raged against God (believe me, it wasn't pretty), the thought occured to me: Perhaps God is allowing the setbacks and disappointments because he wants me to have the experience of being rescued. Without the setbacks, there's no opportunity for rescue. Rescue requires uncertainty, helplessness and hardship: "Jim, I want you to know that I can come through for you. The setbacks create the opportunity to experience that."
Reader Comments (2)
I like this post (and not just for your transparency).
It reminds me of James where the author has this paradoxical statement about how the poor are the blessed ones and the rich people have to deal with their riches. I've thought (and occasionally experienced) that it is the poor who are "blessed" by seeing God come through.
See you, friend.
Thanks, Brent. I think you're right on with that. I think life is often found smack-dab in the middle of the paradox. Someday, I want to hear your story.