When we love people, we don’t (as a rule) want to disappoint them.
Parents don’t want to disappoint their children. Spouses don’t want to disappoint each other. And we don’t want to disappoint because love should only want to “lift and encourage” the spirits of those loved. Yet, we are often disappointed and some even say that God disappointed them.
Disappoint–fail to fulfill expectations, wishes, dreams, defeat, frustrate the fulfillment of hope. Based on these definitions, can we realistically say God disappoints us? Or is it more accurate to say, we disappoint God?
When we do not obtain the future God has predetermined for us (Jeremiah 23:11), is this God’s doing or ours? Did we stay on the path to success as God planned or did we decide to do what we wanted to do? God has given us “free will to choose” and often our choices are not the choices He would make for us, but He allows us to venture out on the choices we make.
God has declared us to be, “more than conquerors”, but are we?
God has declared us to be, “the head and not the tail”, but are we?
God has declared us healed, “by His stripes”, but are we?
God has declared us, “righteous” in right standing with Him, but are we?
God has given us, “power to get wealth”, but are we using it to His glory?
God has given us, “unspeakable joy”, but do we understand it and proclaim?
God has given us chance after chance to get, “living right”, but have we gotten there yet?
Since God is love and can do nothing but love us, how can we say He has ever disappointed us? Would He deliberately frustrate His own plans for us? Is He not capable of fulfilling His expectations towards us?
The truth of the matter is, we probably often disappoint God. When we don’t take care of the children He blesses us with, that’s a disappointment because it is a reflection of His parenting us. Does He not take care of us? When we don’t develop skills to earn a living, is that God’s fault? When we are incapable of loving others and then wonder why our lives are not everything we wanted them to be, whose fault is that? When loved ones die, some blame God. When we lose jobs, some blame God. When disasters and tragedies occur across the land, some blame God. When people abuse and misuse people; especially children, some blame God. God is not responsible for the choices people make–they are. God does not force us to do anything–He encourages, guides, directs–but never forces. People are allowed to make choices, but they also must deal with the consequences of those choices.
If love is the key to our success in life with others–who is responsible for our disappointments? We must learn to love self, God, and others. We must learn to set goals and work towards them. We must strive for excellence in all things. We must learn to forgive the shortcomings of others, so we’ll be forgiven. We must learn to use everything God has given us to succeed in life, to His glory. Are we there yet?
Let’s not think that God is capable of disappointing anyone, but look deep within and see if we are disappointing Him.
Father, help us to be more like You–ever loving and never disappointing.
maryhallrayford 