GOD IS NOT SHOCKED

God is never shocked about the way things turn out in life, even if we are. It is never a surprise to Him. He never makes mistakes. And because He is a Good Leader, we can trust Him that everything is going to turn out right in the end.

Many times, we think we know how something is going to turn out. That is an expectation. Then, it does not turn out that way. This can cause disappointment. But if we are able to come into agreement with God’s leadership in the midst of this disappointment, we will be able to overcome any trial without quitting in the face of opposition.

But there are times when we are concerned that we missed God’s will. We may wonder if we did something wrong in a specific situation. We may ask the question, “How could I have done it differently?”

It is important to ask these questions and to learn from our mistakes, but many times, we torture ourselves with these questions to the point of worry and anxiety. There comes a point where we must quiet our soul, and realize that God is not as shocked as we are. Actually, He is not shocked at all.

God knows when we have the desire to please Him. He knows when we want to do His complete will with an absolute “Yes” in our hearts. He is not out to trick us. His goal is not to make us mess up so He can beat us over the head.

First, ask yourself, “Am I obeying the commandments in God’s Word to the best of my ability, repenting and warring against sin when I fail?” Then, ask yourself, “Am I truly asking God what He wants me to do in this situation?” Thirdly, ask yourself, “Have I heard a clear answer from the Lord and if so, what is it?”

Most likely, you can answer yes to the first two questions. If not, go back and fix something, but most sincere believers who are truly seeking God can answer “yes” to the first two questions.

The third question, however, is where people begin to torture themselves about whether they are in God’s will or not. But the answer is simple. If you are truly asking the Lord, and you have not heard a clear answer, then do what you feel is best from the wisdom and experience you have, and your knowledge of the Word. If God wants to stop you, He can simply say something.

You are truly seeking Him, and if you heard something clearly, you would do exactly what He said, right? So, if you have not heard anything clear, take a deep breath and do what you feel is best. Maybe seek some godly counsel from close friends and mentors—and breathe. It’s going to be okay. God is not shocked, and He is not worried that you are going to make the wrong decision.

He is a Good Leader and He will let you know if you need to make a turn. Trust Him. He knows where this thing is going.

FAITH: WHERE HOPE TAKES THE LEAP

“Now faith is the substance of hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1)

Hope begins in the heart, and faith takes the necessary action. Hope creates longing, and faith acts upon it. Faith is hope in motion. Faith is hope’s substance.

With hope, you are not always sure how it is going to end, but with faith, you take the leap between what you know that you can see, and what you believe that you cannot see.

Faith is the proof that what you cannot see actually exists. It is the evidence.  Yet, you cannot see it, so it takes faith to believe it. Faith is risky, but something in our heart longs to believe it. That longing is hope.

“But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must first believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Heb. 11:6)

First, we must believe (have faith) that God exists. Then, we must believe that He will answer those who seek Him. He wants to give us a reward.

Abraham believed in this God. He believed in the God who “gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as those they did” and even though Abraham “contrary to hope, in hope believed…” And Abraham “did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but he was strengthened in faith…”(Rom. 4:17-20).

Abraham’s faith and hope were working together to believe in the promises of God.

This is what we desire. We want hope to keep our heart longing, and faith to take the leap and believe. But the thing that hinders faith and hope from believing in the promises is a disappointed heart.

However, even a disappointed heart can reach out and believe that what God’s word says is true. David said, “ I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart.” (Psalm 27:13-14)

Even in the midst of a disappointed heart, we must still believe that God exists. We must believe in His goodness. We must believe in His leadership. We must believe in His Word. If we dare to believe that His promises are true, He will come and strengthen our heart to hope.

Hope without Wavering

Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Heb. 10:23)

In the midst of disappointment, the heart can grow weary holding on to Hope. Even the most simple tasks and obstacles can seem ominous and daunting in the face of a disappointed heart. In these times, we feel like we have faltered or wavered in our confession of our hope.

However, we must learn to see our confession of hope the way God sees it. Even in times when we feel the most hopelessness, despair, and disappointment, all we need is one little movement of our heart towards Hope and God counts it as righteousness.

Think about Abraham. Abraham did some good things, but if you look at Abraham’s life, think about how many times he totally bombed it. There was the time when he lied about Sarah being his wife. Oh, and then he did it again. There was the time when he took his wife’s maidservant, thinking that would be the way to get his promised son. Then, he even sent that maidservant and son away, nearly leaving them for dead.

With this is mind reading through Romans, suddenly, you stumble upon the passage that says, “He [Abraham] did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God…” (Rom. 4:20). Wait a minute…

I always slam on the brakes when I read that passage. Wait, Abraham never wavered? Come on, God, are we talking about the same Abraham?

And then I realize that this is how God sees Abraham. He wiped away the sin and the times of losing heart, and He counts the acts of righteousness as Abraham walked out his faith.

And sometimes, I am a little hard on Abraham, but when I apply this to myself, I feel a great amount of relief.

It is interesting that the writer of Hebrews admonishes us to “Hold fast to the confession of our faith without wavering…” Then, he goes on to say, “For He who promised is Faithful…” It seems as though this is the source of the strength for holding onto our hope.

But, it gets even more interesting when you look back at this passage about Abraham in Romans 4. Paul goes on to say concerning Abraham, “and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also about to perform. And therefore, it was accounted to him as righteousness…”

Again, here is the idea of hope in the promises connected with believing in the faithfulness of God.

And the most remarkable part is that it was accounted to him as righteousness.

Even when Abraham seemed to waver in hope, waver in promises, and waver in faith, God saw the movements of his heart and the end result of his life, and it was accounted to him as righteousness.

So with all of that in mind, “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

Attack against Hope: Isolation

There is a corporate attack leveled at the Body of Christ right now of hopelessness and despair. This comes in on individuals in a way that makes them think they are the only ones feeling this way. Thoughts of rejection, isolation, and loneliness keep people from reaching out to express what is happening in their lives.

We must realize that this is a ploy of the enemy to isolate, accuse, and divide individuals from the fellowship of believers. If the enemy causes each of us to think that something is wrong with us and maybe we do not belong, then we will not reach out to other people in the body. However, when we do, we will find that those other people are feeling exactly the same way about themselves. If we start talking, we realize that those feelings of rejection, isolation, shame, and loneliness are traps from hell that are set to keep us from entering into fellowship with other believers.

Hopelessness and despair are meant to isolate us. However, we have a blessed hope—Christ in us the Hope of Glory! (Col. 1:27) He is our comforter who is our friend through the good times and the bad times.

He is also the “spirit of adoption” that has made us accepted in the Beloved, which is Himself together with the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:5-6).

Also, Christ’s finished work on the Christ is the hope that was and still is. His precious blood allows us to enter before the throne of grace with confidence (Heb 4:16).

Because of this finished work of the Cross, the writer of Hebrews says, “Let us draw near with full assurance of the faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our Hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful…” (Heb. 10:22-23)

Here, the writer is saying we must HOLD FAST to the confession of our Hope. Then as humans, we think, “I don’t have any hope…” But if we continue reading the sentence, we discover the source of our strength to hold onto Hope. We hold onto our Hope, because HE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL. In order for us to hold onto Hope, we must focus on the faithfulness of God. It is this attribute of God that will strengthen us to hold fast to the confession of our hope.

Secondly, the writer of Hebrews goes on in verses 24-25 to admonish us concerning holding on to our hope. He then says “consider one another,” and “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,” and “exhorting one another as you see the Day approaching…”

As the author admonishes us to hold onto to our Hope, he first points out the basis we stand on—washed in the cleansing blood of Jesus. Then, he tells us the attribute of God to feed our Spirit with—He who promised is faithful. Lastly, he warns us from the attack of the enemy that comes to keep us in hopelessness—isolation from the Body of Christ.

It is time that we realize the struggles of hopelessness and despair are against the individual to isolate them from the Body, but the attack is corporate. We must join together and strengthen one another, exhort one another, and restore Hope to each other—even more as we see the Day approaching (Heb. 10:25). 

The Risk of Love

Some things in life are worth taking a risk. Some things we just cannot pass up. So, we take a deep breath and jump. Those times when we jump out can either be the most beautiful or the most heart-wrenching—and we never know which one it is until the end.

Jesus took a risk for us, a self-less, heart-wrenching risk. And it seemed as though His risk failed. To the world, it did. But in truth, Jesus’ risk was no failure. Actually, it was the greatest accomplishment the world has ever seen.

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

Jesus laid down His life for the world. To men, it may have seemed like the most foolish risk; yet, it was the greatest love.

Jesus gave absolutely everything; and yet, He still gave man the ability to choose or reject His love.

There is no greater pain in the world than the rejection of wholehearted love. That’s the way Jesus feels every time one of His children walks away from Him. But the good news is that Jesus promised He would never reject wholehearted love from us.

Love is the ultimate risk. It makes you do things that you never would do otherwise. There is no fear in love. There is no failure in love. Love never fails. Love also never seeks its own. It is never arrogant or selfish. Love hopes. Love believes. Love is patient. Love waits.

Love never imposes itself on the freewill of another. Love allows choice. Love allows time. Love allows distance, but always wants to be close.

We may take daring risks with things in the natural world without ever daring a risk of the heart. A risk of the heart is one of the most vulnerable risks possible. It is the risk of hope, risk of faith, and risk of love that matter the most. But the greatest of these is love. It’s worth the risk.

False Expectations and Communication

False expectations lead to false hope which leads to disappointment. What is the primary reason that false expectations occur? LACK OF COMMUNICATION is the answer.

Sometimes, it is not that the existing parties did not talk to each other, but the problem is that somehow each person’s expectations were not properly communicated, which resulted in unnecessary hurt and disappointment.

This process happens all the time, and unfortunately, it normally happens with the people you care the most about. The most hurt usually happens with the people we love the most, because we have taken a risk to open our hearts in a vulnerable way not knowing what the outcome will be.

We form expectations as a way to protect our hearts from the fear of the unknown. Completely free hearts are unhindered to love, laugh, give and serve without expecting anything in return.

Our goal is to be expectation-free and love without expecting reciprocation. However, although we can move in this direction, our hearts on this side of eternity will continue to be influenced by the bounds of fallen humanity until the Lord establishes the fullness of His pain-free, sin-free kingdom.

Disappointment and heartache are inevitable in this fallen world, but they can be minimized. The way to minimize it, however, is not to draw back from taking risks of love, but to use wisdom in risk-taking and to learn to identify and carefully communicate our expectations to those close to us.

The more communication we have in relationships, the less we hurt and disappoint one another. When we express an expectation, we must not then require the other person to meet that expectation, but we must realize it is a communication tool to express to the other person ways that we receive love.

Our desire to express love to one another and minimize disappointment will fuel our attempts to develop healthy and frequent communication with those we love. Learning to identify and express expectations will help us to eliminate false expectations and minimize disappointment and heartache.