Question 1

What causes disillusionment?

Accepted Answer

Ezekiel 7:19“They will throw their money in the streets, tossing it out like worthless trash. Their silver and gold won’t save them on that day of the Lord’s anger. It will neither satisfy nor feed them, for their greed can only trip them up.”Misplaced affection leads to disillusionment.Psalm 146:3Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there.Philippians 3:3We who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort.Misplaced confidence leads to disillusionment.Matthew 16:26“What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”Misplaced priorities lead to disillusionment.Ecclesiastes 2:1I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless.Ecclesiastes 2:4I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards.Ecclesiastes 2:20So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world.Ecclesiastes 4:16Endless crowds stand around him, but then another generation grows up and rejects him, too. So it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.Searching for satisfaction from anything other than what God endorses in his Word leads to disillusionment.Ecclesiastes 4:4Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.Success motivated by envy leads to disillusionment.Jeremiah 23:16This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to his people: “Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are making up everything they say. They do not speak for the Lord!”Hope built on lies and half-truths leads to disillusionment.Ecclesiastes 1:8Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.Ecclesiastes 6:9Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.Giving in to discontentment and being ungrateful for what we have leads to disillusionment.Romans 4:14-16If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!) So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift.Galatians 2:21I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.Seeking salvation through any other means than through faith in Jesus Christ leads to disillusionment.2 Kings 17:15They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they despised all his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols, so they became worthless themselves. They followed the example of the nations around them, disobeying the Lord’s command not to imitate them.Jeremiah 10:1-5Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O Israel! This is what the Lord says: “Do not act like the other nations, who try to read their future in the stars. Do not be afraid of their predictions, even though other nations are terrified by them. Their ways are futile and foolish. They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol. They decorate it with gold and silver and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails so it won’t fall over. Their gods are like helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field! They cannot speak, and they need to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of such gods, for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.”Jeremiah 10:15Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies! On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.Worshiping anything other than God—putting anything else first in our lives—leads to disillusionment.Isaiah 42:18-20“Listen, you who are deaf! Look and see, you blind! Who is as blind as my own people, my servant? Who is as deaf as my messenger? Who is as blind as my chosen people, the servant of the Lord? You see and recognize what is right but refuse to act on it. You hear with your ears, but you don’t really listen.”Disobedience leads to disillusionment.Titus 1:16Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.Hypocritical living leads to disillusionment.Deuteronomy 28:20“The Lord himself will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in everything you do, until at last you are completely destroyed for doing evil and abandoning me.”God’s judgment of sin leads to disillusionment,

Question 2

What can result from disillusionment?

Accepted Answer

Psalm 35:12They repay me evil for good. I am sick with despair.Disillusionment leads to despair.Ecclesiastes 4:8This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.Disillusionment leads to depression.Exodus 6:9So Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery.Numbers 13:32So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge.”Numbers 32:7“Why do you want to discourage the rest of the people of Israel from going across to the land the Lord has given them?”Disillusionment leads to discouragement.Joshua 14:8“But my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.”Psalm 56:4, 11I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? . . . I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?Disillusionment leads to fear.Isaiah 44:9How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don’t know this, so they are all put to shame.Disillusionment leads to shame.2 Timothy 3:6-9They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires. (Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth.) These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith. But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Jannes and Jambres.Disillusionment leads to confusion from false teaching.Ezekiel 20:23-26“But I took a solemn oath against them in the wilderness. I swore I would scatter them among all the nations because they did not obey my regulations. They scorned my decrees by violating my Sabbath days and longing for the idols of their ancestors. I gave them over to worthless decrees and regulations that would not lead to life. I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I had given them, and I allowed them to give their firstborn children as offerings to their gods—so I might devastate them and remind them that I alone am the Lord.”Disillusionment leads to devastation.

Question 3

How do we recover from disillusionment?

Accepted Answer

Psalm 119:37Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.Acts 14:15“We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.”Ephesians 5:11Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.We should ask God to help us turn from focusing on what is meaningless and turn to what is satisfying and fulfilling.Deuteronomy 31:8“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”Joshua 1:9“This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”Psalm 43:5Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!Psalm 94:19When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.Psalm 119:25I lie in the dust; revive me by your word.Hosea 12:6So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him.Micah 7:7As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.2 Corinthians 1:12We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you.Hebrews 6:18-19So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.1 Peter 1:21Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.We can begin by placing our faith and hope confidently in God’s character, God’s Word, and God’s presence. Confusion over knowing what to do then becomes confidence in knowing what God wants us to do.Colossians 2:19-23He holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it. You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.We receive our nourishment and strength from God.Joshua 14:8“But my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.”We must follow God completely.Philippians 3:7-9I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.We must treasure Christ’s personal gift of salvation.

Question 4

How can we prevent disillusionment?

Accepted Answer

Psalm 22:5They cried out to you and were saved. They trusted in you and were never disgraced.Psalm 33:4The word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does.Psalm 40:4Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols.Psalm 57:7My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises!Psalm 108:1My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart!Psalm 112:7-8They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.Psalm 118:8-9It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in people. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.Psalm 119:138Your laws are perfect and completely trustworthy.Jeremiah 17:7Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.Romans 10:11As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”Hebrews 11:1, 20-22Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. . . . It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau. It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff. It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left.Keep focusing on what really matters—faith in Jesus and obedience to God’s Word.Deuteronomy 6:5“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.”Proverbs 4:23Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.1 Thessalonians 5:8Let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.Love God above anything else. We must guard our affections and think clearly, guided by our faith, love, and confidence in our salvation.Matthew 6:33“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”Acts 20:24“My life is worth nothing to me unless I [Paul] use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.”We must dedicate ourselves to the priority of accomplishing God’s mission on earth.Ecclesiastes 11:8When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days. Everything still to come is meaningless.Romans 8:28We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.Hebrews 10:35So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you!Remember that God is sovereign and rewards those who trust in him.