When You Feel God Let You Down

Have you ever felt let down by God? I have definitely been there. One time in particular jumps to the forefront of my mind …

I remember the feeling of being under water. Wave upon wave of pain. I described it to others as the throbbing pain you get when you slam your finger in the door combined with getting trapped under the pull of the ocean. It was severe. I couldn’t drive or do much of anything except for lay on the couch in pain.

I have never experienced a migraine, but the throbbing pain that would come and go is best described by relating it to something known. It happened out of nowhere and went on for nearly a month. Doctors diagnosed me with different things. None of them could figure out why or what. I was on medication for vertigo. I was on muscle relaxers. I was on extreme pain killers. Absolutely nothing was working. People were coming to the house to anoint me with oil and pray over me.

Still, nothing. I remember feeling so helpless. One night as I lay in bed tossing and turning, I cried out to God. “Why are You allowing this pain in my life? Why am I not healed? I’m sick of relying on this medicine!” And then, so clearly in my spirit He spoke, “Fast your medicine. Tuesday is pain, but Wednesday is healing.” Now, I am not kidding when I say I was surviving because of this medicine. The pain was so intense I couldn’t even sleep without it. I would literally count down the minutes until I could take my next dose of whatever. However, I knew I needed to obey. I fell asleep with that phrase playing over and over in my mind: Tuesday is pain, but Wednesday is healing.

Sure enough, the next day was probably the worst day of my life. I laid on the couch in the fetal position, crying off and on all day as waves of pain overtook me. Yet I denied my flesh and didn’t take any medication, even though I wanted to. My resting place was in repeating that God-given phrase over and over, knowing with everything in me that the next day (Wednesday), I would be healed.

Well, Wednesday morning came, and I woke up to PAIN!

What?

God, You told me that Wednesday is healing, and I still feel the exact same!

I was so angry at Him and truly felt lied to. I just couldn’t believe He let me down like that. So I resumed taking my medication, and little by little, bit by bit, I began to feel better that week. Each day I needed the medicine less than the day before. I even felt well enough to get out of the house and drive my car again.

On the day I felt completely better with no pain at all, I hung out with a dear friend. I ended up telling her what God had said, and I probably vented my frustration and confusion as to why I wasn’t healed when He said I would be. At the end of my story, she looked at me in awe and said, “Beth Ann, today is Wednesday!”

My eyes welled up with tears; I couldn’t believe it! God did exactly what He said He would do, only it was completely different from what I perceived it to be. I assumed Tuesday’s pain meant immediate healing the following day. But, my healing came a week later, slowly but surely, on the day He said it would.

Isn’t that like God? His ways are higher always. His timing is perfect always. He taught me something so valuable and crucial that day … that He will never, ever let me down. That His Word is true.

Maybe you have felt let down by God, and you are asking all the “why’s” and “how’s” and “when’s.”

Maybe you’re waiting for that promise He gave you.

Maybe your prayer is unanswered.

Maybe your life is at a standstill, and you don’t know what to do.

I want to remind your weary soul that God is good. He will never let you down. It is not in His nature. He is and will always be who He says He is. Stop placing your expectations on what you want or what you think will happen, and place your expectations on Him. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He is for you, and He is fighting for you.

Whatever Tuesday you are facing right now, know that your Wednesday is coming in Jesus’ name. Do not expect it to look the way you want it to look. Just keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, because He is the answer always. He is never going to let you down.

Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV): “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Isaiah 42:16 (NIV): “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”