When God Doesn't Make Sense: Part 1 - "When God Seems Inattentive" with Craig Groeschel

When God Seems Inattentive

Scripture References

Primary text

• Mark 6
• Matthew 11:2-3

Other references

• Proverbs 19:21
• Romans 8:28

Overview

Life often hands us moments when God feels distant and unresponsive. In the first part of the series “When God Doesn’t Make Sense,” we face those seasons head-on. Looking at John the Baptist’s imprisonment and death, Pastor Craig presses one central conviction:

Just because God is silent doesn’t mean God is absent.

Our plans may unravel, yet God’s larger purpose always prevails. The call is to trust His character even when His actions—or inaction—defy explanation.

Main Points

1. The tension we all feel

• Current events, personal pain, unanswered prayers—every week supplies fresh reasons to wonder where God is.
• Surface-level “miracle” stories (perfect parking spots, preacher airplane encounters) can deepen the ache for those in genuine crisis.
• Honest show of hands: most believers have prayed and felt nothing in return.

2. John the Baptist: faithful yet forgotten? (Mark 6)

• John confronts King Herod Antipas for marrying his brother’s wife, Herodias.
• Herodias nurses a murderous grudge; John is arrested and held in prison.
• From jail John sends word to Jesus: “Are You the One, or should we expect someone else?” (Matthew 11:2-3) — raw, human doubt.
• Jesus’ reply lists ongoing miracles but offers no rescue: the blind see, the lame walk… “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of Me.”
• Herod’s drunken birthday party leads to John’s beheading; no last-minute angel, no jailbreak, no happy ending.

3. Purpose over plan (Proverbs 19:21)

• Many plans reside in our hearts, but the Lord’s purpose is what stands.
• From a distance John’s life goal—to prepare the way for Christ—was fully achieved. The method, however, differed drastically from his expectation.
• Core takeaway: we don’t have to understand the plan to trust God’s purpose.

4. Personal illustrations of redirected plans

• Story: Pastor Craig’s daughter Anna slipped on a wet lobby floor, injuring her knee. Twenty-six months, multiple surgeries, and countless prayers later she still can’t dance. The family now waits to see how God will weave purpose from the pain.
• Story: As a teen Craig shattered his hand before a championship baseball game, derailing athletic dreams. The detour led to another sport, a different college, salvation, marriage to Amy, and ultimately pastoral ministry—proof that apparent setbacks can birth greater callings.

5. Re-framing our lens

• Never interpret God’s goodness through current circumstances; interpret circumstances through God’s unchanging goodness.
• Romans 8:28 affirms God’s ability to work “in all things” for good to those who love Him.
• Faith rests not in the specific outcome we desire, but in the character of the One who oversees every outcome.

6. Jesus models trust amid silence

• In Gethsemane Jesus pleaded for another way, yet surrendered: “Not My will but Yours.”
• On the cross He cried, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”—experiencing the very silence we fear.
• That darkest moment fulfilled God’s greatest purpose: our salvation.

Key Truths

• God’s apparent silence never equals His absence.
• Our detailed plans are fragile; God’s overarching purpose is unstoppable.
• We interpret life through God’s goodness, not God through life’s pain.
• You can trust God’s heart even when you dislike or don’t understand His plan.

Response

• Pray boldly for miracles, yet surrender outcomes to God’s purpose.
• Acknowledge doubts honestly, following John the Baptist’s example, then return to trust.
• Re-frame every trial by asking, “How might God use this for His larger story?”
• Anchor daily decisions in the conviction that God is always good and always present.

Closing

When heaven seems mute, remember: the same God who felt distant to John in prison and to Jesus on the cross was still orchestrating redemption. Our stories are woven into that same sovereign tapestry.

“You don’t have to understand the plan to trust God’s purpose.”

Hold to His goodness; He will never leave or forsake you.

Prayer

Father, we believe You can do the miraculous—heal bodies, restore marriages, open jobs, mend finances. Yet when You choose a different path, give us grace to trust Your higher purpose. Guard our hearts with Christ’s peace, and teach us to see every circumstance through Your unchanging goodness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.