Feel like screaming and crying?
Mad at God?
Feel rejected or abandoned by God?
Feeling desperate and can’t stop the pain?
Is there any hope for you anywhere in the world
to find relief from the pain
you are experiencing in your heart?
Is there a plan here?
Who do we ask?
Who can we trust to tell us the truth?
In our world today, there is so much pain and sadness. So much stress and fear. If we are not careful, it will consume our every thought. We must take those thoughts captive and submit them to Adonai. (2 Corinthians 10:5) He is the only one that can keep the enemy from putting lies in our head.
So, how do we block out the lies from the enemy when they are coming at us from every direction? Everywhere we look people are falling deeper into the dark hole of mental illness; that’s the true epidemic we’re fighting in this world.
People are hopelessly unsuccessful in their desperate attempts to find hope, peace, happiness, love, and joy. The world offers solutions for all of these issues, promising relief and healing. As you try these options with high expectations for relief, you find that the remedy is only temporary and the pain is still there once the numbness wears off.
There isn’t a human in this world that is exempt from the tireless search for lasting hope. What is the answer? Is it possible to find true permanent hope?
Where in the world is our HOPE?
What were you taught?
Many believers have grown up in church and were there every time the doors were open while being taught the “truth of God’s Word.” They were raised by pastors that they idolized and hung onto their every word. All their beliefs have been based on these teachings that they were told were in fact messages from God.
The people they trusted the most told them, “God said”, or “the Holy Spirit” said, so they must be teaching them the truth. When the pastor told you to do something, you did it, no questions asked.
Rule: love the pastor, believe the pastor, thank the pastor for all he has done for us, and oh yeah, be sure to tithe. All churches teaching that tithing is the most important thing you can do to please God. Some were taught the three must-do’s as a Christian: fear God, trust the pastor, and tithe. If you don’t do these you are going to spend eternity in hell. Sound familiar?
Is that where we find our hope?
In tithing to please God?
Who taught you?
As children who have church attending parents, you are put into a church environment and taught to believe what your teacher and pastor tell you. What could possibly go wrong there? Those people were placed in those positions by God so they must know God really well and can be trusted, right? We must take instruction from them and learn what God expects of us and obey our leaders. We are taught that we can trust our pastor and teachers.
“My pastor let me down”
“I don’t trust my pastor”
“My pastor hurt me”
If kids questioned their parents about something the pastor said or did, the parents would discipline the kids for being unfaithful and disrespectful, or ignore them. Kids were at a loss of what to do in this case. Many are living with trauma to this day, because of the lies and deceit they have had to live with because no one would believe them.
Could it be that God was showing the kids the sins that were going on in the church that God did not like? God speaks to kids because they are more willing to listen to Him than “stiff-necked” adults. (Deuteronomy 9:13)
There is a story in 1 Samuel where God speaks to Samuel in the middle of the night while Eli, the priest is sleeping. God didn’t speak to Eli, he spoke to the child, Samuel, who was serving in the church. Eli, the priest, and his two sons, who were also priests in the church, were evil and sinning while continuing to lead the church. God told Samuel He was going to bring judgment on the Church of Shiloh and kill Eli and his sons. God entrusted that information to a child because He could trust him; God knew his heart. God didn’t speak those words to a different trustworthy adult, He told a child. God loves and uses His children. Sadly, few adults will listen to them, leaving many children to choose to disengage from God and their parents because of this lack of trust.
Due to the pastors scare tactics, many kids grew up living in fear of going to hell because of the messages their pastors preached to scare them into being good kids. If you were one, you know what I mean. The kids grew up believing that everything they did would send them to hell. It finally got to the point where many kids said, forget it, it’s to hard to be a perfect Christian, so they rebelled and started doing life their way. They weren’t any happier on that path, and many realized that maybe the pastor was “right.” The struggle of being a perfect Christian kid was real.
Is that where our hope is found?
Trusting the pastor?
Who taught them?
Who really knows the pastor? They only show you who they want you to see. I’ve often heard over the years that many pastors don’t like people, they preach for various reasons, but won’t get close to the congregants because they don’t want to know them. Many of them surround themselves with a handful of people to protect them from the rest.
What is for sure is that being in the position of a pastor leading the people brings a lot of challenges. Not only are they trying to lead the people well, they are being attacked by the enemy to stop leading well. The list of pastors who have fallen from grace is staggering. The causes seem to be the same for most: money and sex = pride. These are the same pastors that we are told to “trust!” Trusting them to teach us, lead us, giving our hearts to them, our money to them, our hope of eternity to them, and volunteering all of our “god-time” to them, all in an effort to be a good Christian like we were taught.
Thought to ponder:
Pastors are human.
Humans are flawed.
Why would you put your hope in flawed humans?
Some pastors have been to seminary, and crazy enough, some pastors have had no training. It’s amazing that someone could get up and start preaching “whatever” and people will follow them because they are charismatic and entertaining. People are looking for a leader they can trust, someone to follow that will lead them so they don’t have to make their own decisions. Letting others make decisions for you and allowing them to determine where you spend eternity is scary business.
In 1 Samuel, Eli the priest raised Samuel from a toddler. He was about 10 when God spoke to him about His anger towards Eli and his sons. Even though Samuel was raised under the teaching of a priest that lost sight of his calling, God protected him. Samuel was obedient to Eli but also did what was right in the sight of the Lord.
When you are raised in church or serve in a church that the pastor has lost sight of his calling and has gotten caught up in power, position, and prestige, be sure to keep your focus on God. When your focus is on God, you won’t go down with the pastor when he falls from God’s grace.
If it’s to late, and you are already suffering from pastoral and/or ministry abuse, hang in here with me, there is hope for you too. I know it seems like God did not protect you and left you there to fend for yourself; that’s absolutely not true. The enemy wants you to believe God left you.
“I am always with you.” Matthew 28:20
It’s likely that Samuel suffered the same pain many have felt that have been hurt by their pastor. Eli was all Samuel knew, he was raised by him, so it had to be devastating to hear God’s plan for Eli. Even though, Samuel’s eyes were on God. He was very upset by the news from God of all He had planned for the demise of the church of Shiloh, but he didn’t lose his focus on God. He clung to Him through the storm. God destroyed the church at Shiloh and killed Eli and his two sons as He promised He would. Because of Samuel’s obedience to God, he was used by God to be one of the great prophets of that time to speak for God until the day he died. Samuel was the one whom God used to anoint the first king for Israel, King Saul, and then later God had him anoint David to be the next king of Israel.
Remember, these pastors are human. They may have mislead and taught half-truths, but think about this: who taught them what to say? And then think about, who taught the ones who taught them? And then, who taught those ones? And you can go back generation to generation all the way back to Jesus. Ok, so start your research with Jesus so you can make sure where things got off track. See what happened after Jesus ascended into heaven? Who taught and what were they teaching? And then what happened next? Do your own research and find the truth from God’s Word, NOT humans!
Is that where we put our hope?
In our “human” flawed pastor that could lead us who knows where…even to hell?
Or do we do like Samuel and put our hope in God?
Who can you really trust?
Putting your hope in God positions you under His coverage of protection. Under that coverage of protection He is able to bless and teach you as you continue to obey Him. Does putting your hope in God or Jesus right now sound impossible? Are you to hurt to even speak to Them right now? Are you thinking, how can I trust that God is real, loves me and speaks to me, if He was “speaking” to the pastors and teachers that we looked up to and let us down?
Let’s start with baby steps.
Before going any further, let’s practice GRACE GIVING!
Take a deep breath…now, give grace to your pastor, who is a flawed human that no one is supposed to idolize anyway. Yes, you were taught to idolize him by your parents, give them grace too, they were only doing what they were taught, and so on, and so on. Give grace to them, so your Heavenly Father can give grace to you. If you are struggling even considering the thought, ask God to help you give them grace. You are a good person. God loves you. You are worthy of His love. Trust Him to walk you through this process.
Now, let’s deal with your pain.
Your pain is REAL! Check.
Now, remember Jesus saying there would be pain in this world but not to worry because He has worked out a plan to one day deliver us from all pain? In the meantime, as flawed, sinful humans, living in a broken fallen world, He said that we must expect that there will be pain. Remember that? (If not, read the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John for a refresher)
Next, remember what happened to Jesus? You might recall that Jesus was beaten beyond recognition, scourged, whipped 39 times with the cat of nine tails, spit on, His beard was ripped out, a crown of thorns was forced on His head ripping the skin away from His skull, then was brutally nailed to a cross and left to die an excruciating death, all in one day!!!! (Think you had a bad day worse than that?) Remember that?
Maybe you can relate? Maybe that’s what happened to you, or worse? No? Hmm… Maybe His pain was worse than yours? Think He was mad at God like you are? No? Hmm… What was it Jesus said to God when He knew this day of pain was coming? Let’s see, something like, please let this cup (of wrath) pass from Me, but not my will Lord, but yours be done. Hmm… Think Jesus was setting an example for us to know that the pain will be coming and not to get upset because we have been warned, but to trust God’s perfect Will for us?
Why did these horrible things happen to Jesus? Why did God allow this to happen to His son? How could God allow this to happen? What kind of God would allow this horrible pain to happen to a person, especially His own Son? Only a mean god would allow this to happen to another human being!
All good questions, right? Maybe you have screamed these same questions at God about your situation that has caused such great pain?
Why did Jesus do this and why did God allow it? For YOU!!!!
They love you!!!
Jesus went through the pain only for us. He told us that He went through it to experience what we had to go through living in this broken and fallen world that is run by the enemy, for now. God sent Jesus to experience what we experience, pain in this world! But, wait, there’s more! God had a great plan to come after that painful experience. God would allow the temporary pain so that Jesus could die for our sins to make a way for us to be reconciled with Him so that we could spend eternity with Him!!!
But wait! There’s still MORE!!!
When Jesus told us to expect to deal with pain in our lives until His return, He also said, not to worry, I’m going to send you a comforter. He sent His Holy Spirit to help you through the painful moments that would be sure to come, and increase, as the end of time draws near. Remember?
It’s hard to see the truth when you are blinded with pain. That’s why we must stay in God’s Word getting our daily manna from Him so that He can protect us, comfort us and teach us. Jesus said there would be pain. God says in the First Testament that He tests us to stretch our faith. Paul said, to boast in our weaknesses because when we are weak, He is made strong. God wants us to draw closer to Him in the painful moments, but to cling to Him always.
In summary,
God says repeatedly in His word to have no idols before Him. It’s the second commandment of the Ten. If you inadvertently fell into the trap of idolizing your pastor and he let you down, there is no doubt that your pain is excruciating and possibly debilitating. There is NO way you can carry that the rest of your life without great personal suffering.
Regardless of where your pain stems from, God never intended for you to carry it; He wants you to trust Him to carry it for you while He carries you through the testing and stretching of your faith. God has big big plans for you and wants to use you like He did Samuel. Will you consider giving God your pain and let Him carry that for you so that He can continue to prepare you for your purpose?
Where in the world is our HOPE?
God is our Hope,
Jesus is our Hope,
the Holy Spirit is our Hope!
Put your trust back in them and cling to them through the storms until Jesus returns to take us away from all this pain. While you are clinging to Them in obedience studying God’s Word daily cover to cover, Genesis to Revelation, give grace to others. That is where you will find lasting HOPE, Shalom peace, and joy.
GOD’S PROMISES OF HOPE FOR YOU
No matter what the circumstance, God’s Word is always a source of hope for you. His promises are true and He is faithful to keep them. When you cling to His promises, you can have hope and peace in the midst of your storms. Below are some of my favorite verses about hope.
“Adonai our God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” Jeremiah 32
“Job said, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” Job 42
“Yeshua said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” For nothing will be impossible with God.” Matthew 19
“Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Genesis 18
“Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” Psalms 33
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4
“Show me favor, God, show me favor; for in you I have taken refuge. Yes, I will find refuge in the shadow of your wings until the storms have passed.” Psalms 57
“But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” Luke 18
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.“ Romans 8
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10
“And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.” Numbers 11
“So that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.” Hebrews 6
“And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Mark 9
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41
“For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17
“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge—no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” Psalms 91
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5
“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” 2 Peter 3
For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” James 1
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” James 1:2
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you.” Isaiah 43:1-5
What a delightful thought to know that He is with us every moment.
That He will protect us. All we need to do is cry out to Him. Cling to His mighty hand. Allow Him to comfort us and carry our pain for us. Remember, He allows the painful moments to draw us near to Him as He stretches our faith. Consider this: instead of praying for Him to take the pain or trial away, pray that He would show you His purpose in it.
He collects our tears (Psalms 56:8) They are written in His book. He is making rivers with our tears that He will turn into rivers of joy. Be encouraged by these promises. Stay in His word and He will give you Shalom peace. Peace that surpasses understanding.
God bless you.