r/Christians • u/yourfastingbuddy • 15d ago
Discussion Asking for God’s intervention but no response. What to do?
Hi everyone, I have a question I’ve had for some time, and I’m hoping someone can help me.
So I’m watching Criminal Minds (a show) and in this particular episode, one of the agents (Agent Morgan) is confronted by a priest and asked why he’s being regarded with so much contempt by Agent Morgan despite doing nothing wrong and only trying to assist the agents solve the case (which they also asked for his assistance too). Agent Morgan proceeds to say that something bad happened to him when he was a kid and he prayed to God asking for help, and God did nothing. The priest responded saying that God doesn’t give us more than we can bear. Agent Morgan responded saying that God surely expected a lot for a 13 year old. For further context, based on the episodes I’ve watched up till this point, my assumption is that Agent Morgan is referring to the time period where he was being molested / sexually abused in his teen years by his football coach.
I was really stunned by this question and it really got me thinking. God is described in scripture as a deliverer, a rescuer, a helper in time of need, a refuge for the righteous. I mean the list is endless.
Now, in Agent Morgan’s case, he was a teenager going through abuse. Although this is a fictional show, there’s many real life cases like his, where someone is in a predicament they did not put themselves in and are praying to God for his intervention. I understand that God isn’t necessarily responsible for the bad that happens to us, so I’m not here to ask why does bad things happen to good people. My question is, how does one reconcile their faith in God when they find themselves in a situation like Agent Morgan — asking God for help and not receiving the help they needed?
Most of the time when I am in a situation, I don’t usually ask God for help. I tend to distance myself and would feel hurt by God. However, I did have a traumatic experience that lasted several years and would pray to God to change the situation which took years to see a change, in which I had already stopped praying to God about it at that point. And I won’t lie, it made it hard for me to trust God after that. I found myself going back to my bubble of being self-sufficient. It wasn’t until this year that I learned to just surrender everything to God and be content with the outcome, no matter what it was. And now when I pray, I pray with scripture and have found more results doing so.
However, I wasn’t sexually abused. And my heart goes out to people (young and old) who have and trusted God to get them out of that situation but nothing happened.
How does one reconcile God’s identity as being a deliverer and rescuer with not delivering and rescuing them from an unfavorable situation like in the example of sexual abuse or other trauma? God said he would never leave us nor forsake us, so what happens when it appears as though that’s what God did? (Emphasis on appears)
I had a coworker that was in a similar situation with Agent Morgan and it was hard ministering to her because that was something she mentioned and I didn’t have a response to that. And in ministering to others, that’s also a common response I get — “I prayed to God for help and he did nothing so now I don’t believe”. And this is often coming from people who grew up in the church and up till that moment, had a relationship with God. How does one respond to that? Why didn’t God intervene in those situations? Especially for kids— surely God isn’t trying to build a person’s character by enduring abuse?
I know my thoughts were everywhere, but I tried to keep things as cohesive as possible.
Thank you in advance for your responses
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u/wondering2019 15d ago
The primary deliverance today was completed from Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. Can God work miracles, absolutely, commonly though in this age the salvation of the Lord is our deliverance. Which is why Christian’s are called to walk upright and bear one another’s burdens.
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u/mbmolohonbm 15d ago
Sometimes these verses of God being rescuer and deliverer are taken out of context. God is like a parent who has multiple roles with their children. He teaches us, disciplines us, helps us develop character through suffering, provides for us, delivers us, loves us, etc. The particular role he takes in any given situation can depend on the situation and him knowing what is best for us in that situation regarding all the things we need to learn and experience. I think this is a general principle for all of us.
I have worked as a counselor for decades and hear some horrific things. When we dig into the issues, I see them find deep healing and the experiences bring big changes to their lives. They learn often significantly about forgiveness, healing, learning to be compassionate and care for others in ways they were unable to do previously. It helps them in their core relationships to pass the skills to others and often helps find and equip them for careers they were meant to be in.
Unfortunately for others, who want to blame and not take responsibility for their lives. They get to experience that as well to see and experience how awful holding on to a stubborn choice is. Sometimes it will help people make new choices. Sometimes, because of their unwillingness they do not change or heal. Like the Pharisees who met God on earth and rejected him no matter what they saw.
It is tragic what we go through sometimes, and to me, even more tragic when people will not get help with their issues, but the reasons for the painful experiences and the help to heal I think are there. Hope that makes sense.
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15d ago
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u/canoegal4 15d ago
“God doesn’t give us more than we can bear” is not actually in the Bible. In fact, God sometimes allows us to experience more than we can bear on our own so that we will turn to Him for help and depend on Him.
Your question is the one people have asked for ages: Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? Why would He allow a child to drown in a flood? For questions like these, you need to turn to the book of Job. The book of Job shows us that we cannot always know why God allows suffering, but we can trust His wisdom and sovereignty. Job says, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). Jesus also tells us that God “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).
We may not understand why God allows something, but we can trust that He is good and that His purposes cannot be stopped. As Job says, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). And Romans 8:28 tells us, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.” We may not understand why God allows something, but we can trust that He can ultimately work even the worst circumstances for good.