Disappointment
3 Reflections
Sometimes the most disorienting moments of our faith are when reality doesn’t match expectation. John the Baptist knew who Jesus was. He was the prophetic voice in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Messiah. He was the one who publicly identified Him first: “Behold, the Lamb of God.” And yet, when John found himself behind the closed doors of a prison cell, unmet expectations caused him to doubt. From his cell, he sent Jesus a question that seems almost impossible to hear from a man like John: “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3)
Unmet expectations aren’t just disappointing; they can reshape your faith. John expected the Messiah to bring deliverance from Israel’s enemies. Instead, Jesus healed the blind, lifted the broken, preached good news to the poor…and kept moving. John began to question when Jesus wasn’t acting like the Jesus he had imagined. That’s the danger zone for all of us. Disappointment can become a chisel that reshapes a new “version” of God that reinforces our bias.
Jesus’s response to John is both mercy and warning. Jesus didn’t rebuke John for his question. He just sent a simple blessing: “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” (Matthew 11:6) In other words: Don’t trade the real Jesus for the one you expected. Don’t let a closed door convince you to “look for another.” Your season may have changed unexpectedly. But Jesus never will.
“God is not a machine to be manipulated, but a Person to be trusted.” - A.W. Tozer
2 Scriptures
“And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.”
— Matthew 11:6
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
— Proverbs 3:5
1 Action
Ask yourself: What outcome have I been treating as proof that God is good?
The healed body. The saved marriage. The open door. The financial turnaround. The child coming home. The ministry finally growing. The apology you feel owed.
Now hold that outcome up to the cross.
If God never did another thing for you…would He still be good?
This is where offense tries to creep in: by making Jesus subject to our expectations. To turn Him into a God who is only faithful when He performs on schedule.
So take your demanded outcome and put it back in its proper place: a request, not a condition. A desire, not a definition. A hope, not a hostage.
And in its place, make this your anchor: Jesus is good because of who He is, not because of what He gives me next.
Grace and peace,
NEIL
