Jesus does not meet “down” to our expectations. We must adjust our expectations “up” to Him.

It is not unusual that we get disappointed by God. You have expected certain thing out of Him, but He didn’t perform to your expectation. And we interpret this as God failing us. But it might be that God had done something (or is about to do) better than we expected. And we often miss it because it is not something we expected.

It’s as if my daughter had asked for an iPad for her birthday, but I gave her an Apple stock worth millions and she gets disappointed because she doesn’t understand what it is.

John the Baptist was that child. He thought he knew that Jesus was the Messiah whose “sandals he is not worthy to untie.” He told others so. But when he is in prison, he second guesses himself and sends his man to find out if He truly was the Messiah. Since Jesus was still on the scene, he could simply ask Him if He truly was the Messiah. And how does Jesus answer? With an emphatic “yes!” He points to what the prophecy said about Him and how He was fulfilling them. (Luke 7:21-22).

But why is John the Baptist second guessing himself? Why the doubt? Because he expected Jesus also to be a political leader. He thought He would come and overthrow Rome and give the Jewish people their freedom and peace. And it didn’t look like that was on Jesus’ agenda. Why not?

Because Jesus’ agenda was much bigger than John’s. He came to save the whole world and not just the Jews. He came to give them eternal life and freedom; not just political freedom. So, He wasn’t what John expected. He was much much more.

You’ve asked God for a marriage partner and God hasn’t given you one. Perhaps God has something better in mind to give. Can you trust Him?

You’ve asked God for a certain job and God hasn’t answer it yet? Perhaps God is trying to change your career that will lead you and many others to far greater things than you can imagine.

We get disappointed not because our expectations were too high. We get disappointed because our expectations were too low.

PH