Does God disappoint you? I’ve conjured this thought in my mind today from several different angles. Ask me the simple question, “Does God ever disappoint you?” and I’d probably have to answer yes. Before you fall off your chair or think you’re reading a typo, I want you to consider this thought. The emphasis on the above question is found in the word you. Does God ever disappoint you? Many times throughout life I predetermine the steps I believe God should take. For example, in moments of challenge, I want God to remove the pain or difficulty. During the moments of loss, I want God to fill the void and emptiness. There are times where I want God to work or rescue a season or moment in a particular way. So what happens when God doesn’t work the way I think He should, I experience disappointment.
Now, I really want you to get this. It is never that God actually disappoints, but in the unfulfilled or unmet expectation is where disappointment cascades over me. God doesn’t disappoint, but my expectation does. Unfortunately, I place my own devised expectations on God when God isn’t obligated to meet all of them. When I find myself disappointed with God, I realize it has nothing to do with Him, but everything to do with me. Most of our self-imposed expectations don’t leave room for God to work or to teach. The best example I can think of is found in the life of Paul. He desperately wanted and to some degree expected God to remove the thorn from His side and yet God didn’t and wouldn’t. It was in the thorn that Paul realized God’s grace. God’s grace was sufficient for the pain Paul would suffer. It was a chance to depend on God and to learn from Him too.
The next time you’re tempted to be disappointed with God – STOP. Realize your disappointment originates from unfulfilled expectations that you’ve actually placed on God regarding your will. Release your expectations and sense the release of your disappointment. It’s not about, “Why does God allow this to happen to me?” It’s all about, “What does God want to do through me?” God has something to demonstrate of Himself through us in times of disappointment. Just think, Paul would have missed a better understanding of grace had God removed the thorn. Never waste a disappointment for it is a classroom of instruction.
