Disappointment

Last night Kellie and I went to the fair without the kids so that we could fully enjoy the sights, sounds, smells, and flavors that we missed when we took the whole crew.  One of my favorite times of the year is when the Dixie Classic Fair comes to town.  I love to eat and there are so many choices that I often get overwhelmed.  Elephant ears, deep fried candy bars, Richardson's root beer, Italian sausage sandwiches, mmmmm......

When we took our kids the day before I had a chance to scope out all of the food options that would be possibilities when just Kellie and I went.  So last night I went to the fair with a game plan, a strategy that I was anxious to execute.  On my list of must-haves was a pork chop sandwich that a local church fries up at one of the booths.  With root bear swishing in my belly I found my way to that familiar location, my senses urging me on.  As I rounded the corner to where the pork chop sandwiches had been before, I was crushed to find that the local church that had made them the year before wasn't cooking them again this year.  Undaunted, I found another vendor who was selling pork chop sandwiches, but it just wasn't the same.  My fair experience wasn't ruined in the least - a second root beer and a Krispy Kreme doughnut hamburger helped with that - but I was disappointed that I didn't get my favorite pork chop sandwich.

Lots of things can cause disappointment in our lives.  When we don't score as well on a test that we studied hard for; your favorite team loses in the last minute of a game they should have won; the movie that you couldn't wait to see isn't at all like the book; the times that others let you down after they don't deliver on a promise made.  For the most part disappointment finds us by surprise, inflicting injury when we realize that circumstances aren't quite as they seemed.  In other words, we find ourselves disappointed when what we get isn't what we expected.

Do you think God is ever disappointed in us?  Does anything that we do or don't do ever catch Him off guard?  The Bible teaches us that nothing is beyond the grasp of God's knowledge (read Psalms 139 to get an idea of just how great God's knowledge is).  That means that God knows fully well the decisions that we are going to make and the consequences that we will face regarding those decisions.  Nothing that we can do or so can ever surprise God.

The implications for us are pretty amazing.  While my sin grieves the heart of God and alienates me from Him, as His child He is never disappointed in me as I would be in someone else who lets me down.  God is not in the business of making His children feel shame and guilt.  Instead, His Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin so that we can confess our sin and thus be forgiven and cleansed of our unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).  This doesn't excuse us from being responsible for our sin or the consequences that we suffer as a result, but what it does mean is that God's ways of relating to us is on a whole other level than how we relate to each other. 

I may let you down and disappoint you, resulting in a strained relationship that even remains awkward after we have reconciled.  But with God there are no mind games.  He loves us and forgives us, period.  While God may be grieved over your sin He will never be disappointed with you because you are created in His image and His love and forgiveness is perfect.