Take a look at this next slide. It’s from the opening sequence of Gunsmoke, one of the longest running television shows ever produced. Notice how the street’s full of activity. Well I’ve got news for you. What you think you see in this picture and what you thought you saw on television probably don’t agree with reality. I know, because I saw the set of Gunsmoke up close and personal. They built one not far from where my grandfather lived in Arkansas----and while my family was on vacation visiting my grandparents we went to the set. At first sight as a little guy I thought wow, this is was pretty cool. I’m standing on the main street of Dodge where Marshal Dillion had a lot of gunfights. I wanted to see more than the fronts of the buildings; I wanted to explore the town. I wanted to check out the insides of the buildings. I don’t know why but I almost immediately broke into a run and headed up the stairs that lead to the Doc’s office. I threw open the door and stepped inside. And it’s a good thing they had a small platform with a railing there otherwise I might have plunged head first from that lofty height. What a disappointment. Doc’s office wasn’t there. The jail, Miss Kitty’s, Newly’s gun shop, none of it was there---I mean there were but they weren’t there. The storefronts were there but when you walked through the doors, there was nothing on the other side of them.
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When in our hearts and minds we make God out to be something which He is not---we can expect disappointment. For example, there are those people who carry with them the belief that God will grant them whatever they ask for if only they have enough faith. In doing so, they’ve erected a false mental image of God---and disappoint awaits them just like it did me on the set of
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