Disappointed Hope

"Those who hope in Me will never be disappointed." (Isa. 49:23)

Such a wonderful promise; when we trust God and wait for Him, we will never be disappointed! For the believer, this is superb news! Never a disappointment?! How can any Christian be anything but incredulously exuberant with such a promise like that!

But, as you and I know all too well…this doesn’t always seem to be the case, does it? What human being has never EVER been disappointed? What about those times when, you’re in a money crunch, but you’re believing God to work all things out for good, and you have a meeting with your boss. Excited, nervous, but “full of faith,” you walk into that office and think, “Well Lord, this is it. You know I’ve been believing in You to work out my money dilemma. Maybe I’ll be getting a raise, or he’ll give me a bonus, or something. Grant me favor with my boss today.” Your boss has you sit in the chair opposite his desk. As you look at his expression, you immediately realize that this is not the face of a generous promoter, but one of grave crisis intervention. Grim, eyes downcast, he thumbs through what appears to be your file, which he closes, lays resolutely on his desk, and slowly lifts his eyes, looking at you for the first time, and methodically begins the sad monologue of the economic crisis, its affect on the company, the forced layoffs of employees, and how your work, though commendable and an asset to the organization, was no longer needed. With file in hand, you stagger your way out of the office, down the hall, making your way to your car, shocked, perplexed, all the while screaming in your heart, “Lord! Why have You forsaken me?!”

What about the times when you are believing God for a healing for a loved one? The prognosis is grim, the doctors give little hope for recovery, but you believe in a God who makes all things possible! You call up your prayer warriors, send in prayer requests to churches all over town, fasts are initiated, offerings are made in faith for a miracle breakthrough…and the condition worsens and finally, the prognosis proves true, and you lay your beloved to rest in a pillowed coffin. Anger rent with unutterable sorrow wells inside your heart as you ride in the limousine, exiting the cemetery. Your mind is spinning, battered back and forth, like an ocean bobber caught in a hurricane, with a torrent of thoughts, memories, Scriptures, sermons, jostling in your head, and clenching your jaw, vainly attempting to hold back the wave of tears, cry out, “My God, why have You forsaken me?!”

Yes, you and I have all experienced extreme disappointments during our lives; even when we are trusting God to come through, intervene, do the impossible, yet, for reasons we may never know in this life, He says, “No.” So how can it be that those who hope in Him are never disappointed? Is this verse false?

There have been countless times, in which I have prayed and believed God to intervene in numerous difficult situations, in my own life as well as others’, only to be denied my requests and left downcast in bitter disappointment. One time specifically, after my perception of the “worst case scenario” came true, I shut myself in my room, sat angrily at my desk, ripped open my Bible to the above Scripture, and with tears of anger and confusion streaming down my face, defiantly pointed to the verse and told the Lord through sobs,“You said I would NOT be disappointed if I hoped in You! But Lord! That is EXACTLY what I am feeling right now!”

It was then that He revealed to me to root of my disappointment. My hope was not in Him; it was in the result I wanted from Him. I was hoping that God would answer me the way that seemed best to me, and when He did not, my emotions were shattered and my exasperation with Him paramount. The depth of my emotion only revealed the extent, in which I had placed my hope in something other than the Lord.

But this is not God’s best for us, our emotions jolting up and down, peaks and valleys, as we hope and pray for His will to be done in our lives. This is not the faith, to which we are called. The faith that God intends for us to have is a steady, peaceful trust, knowing that whatever the outcome, it is His best and He will work it out for our good. It is a resting place, secure in His character and in His goodness, not placing parameters on how He can answer us in order for us to “feel” happy with His will and with our faith. God never asks us our opinion on His answers; He only asks us to believe in Him, no matter how He answers.

Consider a scenario: how many people prayed the night Jesus went to trial, praying that God would rescue this Good Teacher from the hands of the Pharisees and Romans? And did He? No. The Lord allowed His Son to die on the cross, crucified, a horrific torturous death, for preposterous allegations. The worst possible outcome to the situation came true. But would you, 21st century believer, have wanted Him to have answered those heartfelt prayers of Christ's first century followers any other way? Of course not! Without the death of Christ, there would have been no resurrection of Jesus Christ, no hope of eternal glory or promise of everlasting life. This blog would not exist; you would not know what true joy and peace are, there would be no assurance of being loved by God, or anyone for that matter; there would be no purpose or reason to live. Life would be utterly meaningless! It was because Christ died that we enjoy these blessings! But how could those, who were interceding on Jesus's behalf that night, ever have imagined this glorious result, which would come as a consequence of the Lord’s refusal of their requests?! They couldn't have because the Lord embarked a new era! God's ultimate answer to these prayer requests far surpassed what any human being could have EVER contemplated at that time!

If God can completely change the world with a refusal then, He most certainly can cause similar results with His denials to us now. We may not be able to know or understand the thoughts of our Father when He answers us in ways that seem so wrong, in comparison with our desires. We may even be disappointed with the initial outcome; but if we hope in Him, He will turn the situation around for a good that is far more inconceivably glorious, which we could NEVER have begun to fathom or imagine, and an end that would be thwarted if God answered us "our way."

The word of God is true. If our hope is in Him, we will never be disappointed. And when those feelings of disappointment rise, and your emotions become fractured, take heart. God will not disappoint you when He completes His purpose in your situation; the initial answer may, but His end will not. God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we could ever dare to hope, ask, or think. In the end, you will be overwhelmingly grateful He answered in the way that He did.