Why are you so far from my groanings? I cry out and I hear nothing. How can I sing the songs of the Lord in a foriegn land? How long, O Lord, before you deliver me from all my distress? I want to sing a new song, but I can't right now. Darkness is my only friend. I cannot find you. The psalmists were realistic, so much more than we who worship a divine vending machine. Insert the correct spiritual change, punch the right button, and God delivers. What do you want? A new zest for life? No more homosexual desires? Godly kids? Coming right up. Just stick in the right coins--daily devotions, disciplined prayer, determined obedience, faithful church attendance. God will do whatever you ask.

Shattered Dreams by Dr. Larry Crabb

Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?

Lamentations 3:37-38

"I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things."

Isaiah 45:7