Eric stormed into my office and flopped into a chair.
“I’m really mad at God.”

Having grown up in a strong church family, he’d met and married a Christian girl. Now he was the picture of misery.

“Okay, so why are you mad at God?”
“Because, last week I committed adultery.”

Long pause. Finally I said “I can see why God would be mad at you. But why are YOU mad at God?”

Eric explained that for several months he’d felt a strong mutual attraction with a woman at his office. He’d prayed earnestly that God would keep him from immorality.

“Did you ask your wife to pray for you?” I said. “Did you stay away from the woman?”
“Well… no. We went out for lunch almost every day.”

Slowly, I started pushing a big book across my desk. Eric watched, uncomprehending, as the book inched closer and closer to the edge. I prayed aloud, “O Lord, please keep this book from falling!”

I kept pushing and praying. God didn’t suspend the law of gravity. The book went right over the edge, smacking the floor.

“I’m mad at God,” I said to Eric. “I asked Him to keep my book from falling… but He let me down!”

—An excerpt from The Purity Principle, Randy Alcorn