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Five Reasons People Become Dissatisfied with God

Psalm 78:1-22

Dr. Dave M. Hartson

Bala Chitto Baptist Church

4/14/02

Introduction:

Maybe it is just me, but it seems that people today tend to be dissatisfied with life for the most part. Maybe people just complain more openly today than in previous years but I sense people are just dissatisfied.

They may be dissatisfied about their weight, or the way they look, the job they have, the church they go to, their financial situation, the way their spouse acts or the way their children behave. People can be dissatisfied with just about anything and everything.

Listen sometimes to your friends or even better yet listen to yourselves. You would be surprised how much we have to say is said in a negative way.

This dissatisfaction also flows over to our relationship with God. In our Psalm today, the psalmist shares with us five reasons that we become dissatisfied in our relationship with God.

So let’s see what we can discover about ourselves and about our relationship with God from these verses in Psalm.

Body:

  1. If I am dissatisfied with my relationship to God, I am to blame not God.

Vs 4-We will not hide them from their children we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.

  1. If I feel I have a problem this morning with God, the problem is with me. If I have a problem with God’s church, the problem is with me. If I have a problem with spiritual things, the problem is with me
  1. The Psalmist in verse 4 is saying God has done no wrong. The problem must lie within me.
  1. So this morning I want us to do some soul searching as we look at some of the causes of our dissatisfaction if I sometimes gets the sense of frustration with God, his church, or spiritual things.
  1. We become dissatisfied with God when He pushes further then we want to go.

VS 8- the men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle.

  1. Have you ever noticed that God has taken you to points in your life you never wanted to go to? And if you are like me you kicked and screamed and yelled at God the whole time He was bringing you to where He wanted you.
  1. A lot of us are committed to God until He pushes us further than we want to go. Each one of us has set in our minds an amount of spirituality I don’t mind having as long as I am not pushed any further than that level.
  1. I am committed to go to church as long as they don’t ask me to do anything down there other than come. I am committed to God until He asks me to go into battle.
  1. The men of Ephraim said, “God, you are pushing us further than we want to go spirituality. I don’t mind praying to you but fighting a battle for you is a different thing.”
  1. Some of us are dissatisfied with God this morning because he has pushed us in an area of our life further than we wanted to go.
  1. We become dissatisfied with God when our lives become a disaster through our own disobedience.

VS 10-They did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law.

  1. We want to blame God for our mess when the fact is we were not living like we should be living and that is what caused our mess.
  1. The people of Israel in the wilderness complained about God but it was the people of Israel that were not living like they should.
  1. I think we resent that God’s way to live is the way to live. And when I venture out on my own and mess up I am dissatisfied with God because He was right.
  1. Nothing irks me more than when someone stands over me and tells me that I told you so.
  1. We become dissatisfied with God when it seems that we are not getting any assistance from heaven.

VS 11- they forgot what he had done the wonders he had shown them.

  1. There are times we have to remember what God has told us in the past because right this moment it seems we are not getting any answers.
  1. There are times there I have to remember the things God has brought me through because right now I am in a mess and God does not seem to be around.
  1. If I cannot remember what God has said and what God has done, I may become dissatisfied with God when things get rough.

5. We become dissatisfied with God when He doesn’t jump through the hoops we set up for Him to jump through.

VS 18-19They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the desert?”

  1. How often do we want God to jump through our hoops? If you want me to serve you then you need to make my mother well. If you want me to give to the church then you will need to give me a raise?
  1. May times God will not jump through our hoops and we become dissatisfied with Him when He doesn’t.
  1. We become dissatisfied with God when we have allowed ourhearts to turn so cold that we cannot turn to Him.

VS 22-For they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance.

  1. There are some people who are so anger at God today. They know that they need to turn to God for help. Their life is just so miserable. But their cold heart is preventing them today. And instead of dealing with their cold heart they just express their anger against God.

Conclusion:

God is telling you and I today that He desires a satisfying relationship between Him and us. If we don’t have that type of relationship it is our problem. Will you allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life today as we open our invitation?