Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - Has God Ever Let You Down?

When is the last time you have experienced a let down in expectations? It could be as simple as not receiving the correct sandwich you ordered at a restaurant or as difficult as finding out the person you married turned out to be someone totally different from who you thought they were before the wedding. What makes things even more difficult is when we have certain expectations of God that, for whatever reason, go unmet. I want to talk specifically about the unmet expectations that come with offering countless prayers for someone we believe is without Christ, yet who seem to remain spiritually indifferent to the things of God. No matter what you do on their behalf or say to them, nothing changes.

This issue trips me up more often than I'd like to admit. I mean, after all, doesn't the Bible say that Christ came to look for and rescue the dying (Luke 19:10 ) and that it's not God's will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9 )? Then why aren't those we love and care about responsive to our attempts of getting them to the Savior?

I wish I had the answer to that question. I don't. And it is at this point that many try to hide behind their true feelings on the subject by holding to the theological viewpoint of the "sovereignty of God" and emotionally separate themselves from the pain of the reality that someone they love will eventually spend eternity in a lake of fire. While I do believe in the sovereignty of God, I'm not going the route of intellectual passivity. Instead, as I wrestle with this, I will offer a few suggestions that I believe will help move us past our typical responses toward God of anger and resignation when He doesn't come through. The following responses will produce fruit in the long run, if not in the person we care about, for sure in our own personal lives.

First, we allow God to develop in us a devout nevertheless faith. This kind of faith is not resignation in disguise, nor is it a denial of our deep hurt and disappointment in God when it appears He is no longer working in a person's life that we care deeply about. But rather it involves allowing God's Spirit to develop in us an attitude and outlook that says "No matter what, Lord, I will trust You in this." To borrow verbiage from an old favorite song of mine, "When you can't trace His hand, trust His heart."

Second, we commit to being lifelong learners. Some of life's most lasting lessons come out of our disappointment with God. "These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:7 ).

Third, we keep doing our part. We keep praying. We keep sharing. We continue showing our friends and loved ones the Jesus-difference in our lives. We keep displaying Christ-likeness.

Fourth, we learn to love God more and trust Him deeper by embracing His unpredictability. After all, who wants to serve a God we can figure out?

While these suggestions are not solutions to disappointment over God's dealings (or lack of) in someone's life we love and care about, it is my prayer you will be honest with God about how you feel when it comes to your unmet expectations. Allow Him to show Himself to you in fresh new ways. Who knows but that you might be on the brink of God doing something in your life or through you that you never would have expected...something you can't explain?