You probably have already met people (maybe even yourself) who were in some point in their lives disappointed with God. This disappointment may cause them to feel unable to fully trust in God and sometimes even cause them to turn away from Him. But why does this disappointment occur?
Photo credit: Photochiel (Creative Commons)
First let’s check what the word “disappoint” mean:
to disappoint: to fail to meet the expectation or hope of (according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary)
The keyword here is expectation. The person expects something from God, and when it doesn’t happen as they expect, they get disappointed with God.
A person can get a wrong expectation from God in several ways. Most commonly, it is due to the lack of knowledge of the Word of God from the Bible, which also includes incorrect interpretations.
For example: All Christians believe that Jesus Christ will come again, as He promised several times (see Matthew 16:27, John 14:1-3, Luke 9:26). Along the years, many people tried to predict the day when it would happen. And they all got disappointed, but not because God didn’t do something He promised to do, but because their expectation was incorrect (wrong timing).
Jesus Himself said that no one knows when the second coming will take place, only the Father (see Matthew 24:36, Matthew 24:44). So, if only the Father knows when that will happen, it is clear that anyone who affirms to know that information is wrong, no matter how good their intentions are.
In this case, they are creating a false expectation, and the error is not the event itself (the second coming of Jesus will happen!). The error is when the person is expecting that event to occur.
Unfortunately, there are many heresies and wrong interpretations that bring people to religion (Christianity or heretical sects), but sooner or later they will fail, and people will usually turn their disappointment towards God.
Another problem with our expectations from God is that sometimes we forget that we also need to do our part in order to receive the promises He has given to us in the Bible. In a few words, we need to obey his commandments and follow His will.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, whot have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Regarding expectations, we need to keep in mind:
- Our expectations need to be aligned with God’s Word (the whole of it, not just a few verses taken out of context).
- We must not forget that God’s timing is not our own. We might be waiting for a legitimate promise, but it doesn’t mean that it will happen when we want it to. God will do it when the time is right.
- We are here to do God’s will, not the other way around. It means that sometimes, things will happen that we don’t understand or we may have a hard time accepting them, but it doesn’t mean that God forgot about us. He is still in control.
When it comes to God, disappointment always means incorrect expectations. So let’s make sure our expectations are all aligned with His Word, His timing and His will.
This post is part of the “One Word at a Time Blog Carnival” hosted by Peter Pollock. Check out his blog for links to other posts that were written based on the word “disappointment”.
Great take on the word “disappoint”! Yes, if God disappoints us it is because our view of God is not quite right. You make excellent points, Cris! Thank you! BLESSINGS!
Thank you so much, Mari-Anna! Blessings to you too, sister!
Surely this text was inspired by God! God bless you!
Thank you so much, Gustavo, I appreciate your feedback! God bless you too!
When hope is deferred it makes our hearts sick, but those who hope in the Lord will never be put to shame. It’s very subtle sometimes, but whenever we let our preconceived ideas of how God will do things override our trust and hope in Him alone, we set ourselves up for disappointment. Good word, Cris! Thanks.
You’re right, Jason. Our hope needs to be on Him alone. That reminds me that when Jesus died, a lot of people were disappointed. They didn’t understand how God let that happen. But then, all they had to do was wait until Sunday… Then, it all made sense!
Thank you so much for your comment!
Years ago, our son told his wife that he no longer believed in God. Do you think I believed that? Not on your life. We asked him if He had ever had an experience with God and he said, yes, when I was baptized with the Holy Spirit. That was enough. As a mother, I knew he was angry and MAD at God and he remained so for several years. Today he prays, and attends church.
I am so glad to hear that he came around, Hazel. It is sad when people get mad at God, but God wants people to be honest. So it was better for him to admit his disappointment than to keep it inside. That way, God can use the community to help him heal whatever it was that caused the disappointment, like He has used you to help your son heal his hurt. Thanks for sharing, Hazel!
I am very much in the same thinking, especially the last one. We don’t realize how often some “small” event or involvement will plant seed in hearts and days and years. Until we are in Heaven we simply will not know how those events or experiences were truly used by our Lord, b/c He actually knows more than we do. Wow!!
Thanks Cris.
Yes, Joanne, I am sure that we will be amazed when we get to heaven and God shows us how things really turned out. Can you imagine, so many martyrs that died in the first and second century, how surprised they will be to see that their sacrifice was of major importance to convince people about the redeeming work of Jesus and allow Christianity to grow until it became the official religion of the same empire that had persecuted them? And so so many other stories… It will be amazing, I know.