Disappointment With God: What to Do When God Feels SilentSample

WHAT WE LEARN ABOUT SARAI
When we last saw Sarai and Abram, things were looking pretty bleak. Abram’s family had turned to idol worship in the land of the Chaldeans. Sarai was unable to have children – and her hopes for her own future were also at a dead end.

We are left wondering: Where is the counterbalance? Doesn’t God usually respond to human messes with grace? Where is the grace? There seems to be none in sight. Has God given up? Has the bond between God and mankind been cut? Has God run out of patience?

If that were true, the Bible would be a very short book.

But in chapter 12, God comes down and gets involved. He inserts Himself into the story. He comes down to meet with Abram, and in doing so, changes Sarai’s story, too.

Because when God gets involved, dead ends suddenly aren’t so dead.

WHAT WE LEARN ABOUT GOD
This story shows that God moves first. At the site of the ancient city of Ur, archeologists have unearthed giant pyramid-esque temple towers called ziggurats, which were basically giant staircases to the sky. The goal of these ziggurats wasn’t just to build a stairway to heaven to get to the gods. It was also to leave some offering at the top and persuade the gods to come down and help humanity.

But Genesis 12 flips that idea. God moves first. He comes down to us.

Abram and Sarai had not done anything to deserve God’s particular visitation to them.

Abram and Sarai did not do everything right.

They were not paragons of religious devotion to God.

Actually, it was the opposite. Their families were worshipping other gods!

God doesn’t wait for us to build a stairway. He comes down.

NZN: No Ziggurat Needed.

God knew how lost Abram (and indeed the whole human race) was. But instead of letting the chaos continue, He chose one particular family to re-establish His presence on earth. Through Abram and his family. Heaven came down to Earth. God, walking with people – like in Eden. That was always His plan.

HOW WE CAN GROW
In Genesis 12, Sarai and Abram learn the contrast between two ideas about God. The first is what I’ll call Ziggurat Theory. This says climb up, climb hard and maybe you’ll reach God, but more than likely you won’t because no one is coming for you.

Then there’s Immanuel Theory, which says that Yahweh the Creator God is different. God is with us.

Secondly, this story shows both a cosmic impact and a personal impact. When God intervenes in human history, His desire is to eventually bless all the nations (Gen. 12:3 NIV). That’s the history-changing movement. But God does this in the context of Abram and Sarai’s little lives. Also, Sarai’s dreams – of family, of having children – are heard. She’s swept up in a bigger story, but God’s big movements also are beautifully attentive to her as well.

REFLECTION
Consider Sarai’s story: no hope, no children, no future … until God stepped in. Where do you long for God to insert Himself into your story?

Take a few minutes to reflect on where you may be trying to climb your way to God, through performance, effort, or spiritual striving. Ask yourself, “Where do I feel like I need to ‘earn’ God’s attention or presence?” What would it look like to simply receive the truth that God moves first – and that He’s already near?

Complete this prayer: “God, I don’t have to climb. You come to me. Today, I receive your nearness even in …” (fill in the blank).

If God really does meet us at our dead ends, then the question becomes: what do we do when the waiting drags on and the promise still hasn’t arrived? That’s exactly where Sarai finds herself next—don’t miss Day 3.