Can God Disappoint?

When we hear the phrase "God never disappoints," experience rises to object. We think of all the times our prayers have gone unanswered or life didn't go as planned. Disappointment is a regular part of life, often seeming to come from God Himself. So is it true that God never disappoints?
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There is a difference between being disappointed about and being disappointed in. We are often disappointed about situations or circumstances that did not live up to our expectation. We are even disappointed when God does not do what we thought he would do. But being disappointed about what God does or does not do is different from being disappointed IN God. When we are disappointed IN someone, character comes into question. Someone has behaved in a way that defies what you know about them. For example, you learn that your best friend, the missionary, robbed a bank. Your spouse, whose honesty you admire, embezzled from his company. To be disappointed IN someone means that a person we trusted is not altogether trustworthy. They acted in contrast to their character.

So even though God may not act in situations as we hoped He would, He can never disappoint. He is always true to His nature. He never varies, changes, or fails to be who He is. We may not always understand who He is or why He does things the way He does, but His character is never in question. If His word says it, it is still true. If He promised it, He will do it. If He was kind and loving 5000 years ago, He is still kind and loving. And He will be tomorrow. We live with disappointment, and unfortunately we disappoint others. We and others will act in contrast to our characters. But we can say with certainty, that God never will. He never disappoints.

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Is God Disappointed With Me?

I  talk with a number of people who fear that God is disappointed with them. 

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"I let God down," they say and the mountain of shame threatens to crush them. These are people who know they have trusted Christ for salvation, they have been made new by the power of God, but they messed up way back there. Or they fear they messed up. Or they struggle with a vague uneasiness that somehow they aren't all God had in mind when He saved them. They have shied away from looking him full in the face because they cannot imagine that He's smiling.
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This whole outlook is based on a false premise. To be disappointed means that we believed one thing was going to happen and instead got something less. That only works for humans. In order for the Lord God Almighty to be disappointed, He would have had to have an expectation that did not come true. He thought we were going to do A, but we shocked Him by doing B.
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However, this scenario is not possible just as it is not possible for red to be green or up to be down. God is omniscient, which means He already knows everything. We can't surprise Him or catch Him off guard. He is grieved at our sin, sorrowful over our suffering, and will discipline us when we need it. But He's never disappointed. He already knew we were going to mess up before we did it. That's why He sent Jesus. It is the righteousness of Jesus that makes us right with God. That's why He can be so eager to forgive. He has already planned it out so we can be right with Him again. He is more eager to restore the relationship than we are.
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The idea that we've disappointed God is a fabrication of our enemy to keep us from racing back to our Father when we mess up. Satan knows the transforming power of God's full pardon and does what he can to keep us from knowing it too. When we turn from our sin and accept the cleansing of Jesus, it's as if it never happened. Jesus bought for us us the smile of God. The only one we've disappointed is Satan.


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Messiah Complex

We lift a disapproving brow at those fickle disciples who turned away from Jesus when He didn't turn out to be the kind of messiah they were looking for. He didn't live up to their expectations. They thought they knew what a messiah was supposed to do. He would make life easier, give them what they wanted, and act like a Messiah should act. Instead, Jesus hung around with the wrong people, never challenged the oppressive government, and after three years they were all still broke. They stood face-to-face with God, but he was not what they had in mind.

Don't we do the same thing? Sometimes it is hard to admit that the real Jesus is not what we had in mind either. He doesn't act like we think he should. He didn't heal that sickness. He didn't provide the raise, cancel the divorce, or keep the wayward child from destruction. Isn't that what God is for? Isn't that why we trusted in him in the first place? Aren't there rules he's obligated to keep so we can predict his next move?
It is not until life has shattered our ideas of who we thought God was 
that we can really find Him. 

We are then forced to reckon with all that unpleasantness about dying to self, giving up our will, and being faithful unto death. We discover that total surrender means we don't get to help Him be God.

Turns out He was never created in our image at all. He doesn't have to explain Himself or even make sense to our finite minds. He is not bound by our paltry attempts at faith nor subject to our desires. That's why he introduced Himself as the I AM. He has no description.

When we admit that the Great I AM is not who we we had in mind either, we can toss out our self-centered expectations. It's OK to start over and get to know Him for who he really is. He's waiting for us to come to that point. It was in the Bible all along, but we skimmed over that part. As our understanding deepens, we realize how much we skimmed over. He reveals Himself to our newly-humbled spirits and see finally understand that there is only one way to be God and He's doing it. 

It is not until we stop dictating what a God should be like that we can truly love the One who IS.
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I Could Do It Better

• So you were passed over for the promotion you wanted.

• The ones doing the job seem incompetent. You know you could do better.

• Prince Charming picked someone else.

• You trained so long and hard, but you lost anyway.

WHY? Why, God?

One universal characteristic shared by mankind is imagination. It manifests itself in a million ways from fantasy to real heart's desire. We can see our dream in our minds. We just KNOW how things would go if only we got the chance. And we can see how God could use us, how good we would be if He only picked us.

And He doesn't.

Have you ever wondered how David's brothers felt as Samuel the priest studied and then rejected each of them as future king of Israel? Do you think a few of them felt slighted by God? "Hey, I'm a good guy too! Why couldn't I be king? I would do a much better job than that little shepherd kid."

Or how did the gallant military leaders of Gideon's day feel when God selected the trembling guy who didn't want the job? Rebuffed? Insulted? Indignant? Each imagining the glory he could bring upon Israel if only he'd been chosen.

Or what about the young woman who grew up next door to Mary, dreaming that she might be chosen as the mother of the Messiah. She'd kept herself pure, loved God, did everything right and thought she had an excellent chance until Joseph's peasant fiancee made her shocking announcement. Imagine the shock and disappointment when Mary's son began to prove Himself as the real Messiah. All the other girls knew they'd been passed over for the honor of being his mother. Why? Why not me?

Let's face it: Many times God's plan looks nothing like what we imagined. It makes no sense to us and deep down, we question His decision. "I'd do a much better job, Lord. Why didn't you pick me?"

God Himself gives the clearest explanation of His sometimes backward choices: "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways."

God seems to delight in surprising us, shocking us, and leaving us a bit confused when we try to figure it out. The key is to remember that He is not nearly as interested in our tiny corner of reality as He is in unfolding the Big Picture. We are merely players in His story.

Yes, He cares about our hurts and desires, but He also wants us to take a step back from our self-centered world and enjoy the Big Picture with him. Rather than work in our lives so that we receive glory and honor, He wants us to work with Him so that all the honor and glory due Him is adequately placed. We can only do that when we are wholly surrendered to His will--whatever it is.

It wasn't all ticker-tape parades for the above chosen ones. David ran for his life for years after Samuel's announcement. Gideon spent sleepless nights in fear about the outcome of this war for which he felt incredibly unprepared. And who can adequately imagine the suffering of Mary as she watched history unfold in the life of her baby boy.

We love to imagine the glorious result if we were chosen, rarely considering the hours of labor, doubt, fear, and often despair that comes with it.

If you're chaffing over a disappointing loss, a dream that never took wing, a life path that makes you wonder if you were passed over for blessing, take a step back. God's reasons are for Him alone to know. But you can be certain that if your life is surrendered to Him, there is no blessing, no promotion, no honor He will withhold from you that is in your best interest.

So go ahead. Made that concession call. There is something better just down the road.