Why God Disappoints

Yesterday we saw who God disappoints: those for whom He has great plans. Today we’ll see why our God strategically disappoints us and thwarts our expectations.  Take a look at John chapter 11. We know that Mary and Martha, sisters of Lazarus, are some of Jesus’ dearest friends. Lazarus is dying:

“So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick” (v.3)

The sisters sent to Him.   Why would they send to Jesus?  They expected Him to heal Lazarus. This was their expectation. Lazarus is sick. Jesus loves Lazarus.  Jesus can heal.  Therefore, send to Jesus and tell him so that He can come heal Lazarus. (Sound familiar?  I have a problem.  Jesus loves me.  Jesus can fix problems.  Tell Jesus my problem and expect him to fix it.)

“When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it” (v. 4)

One of the most significant lines of scripture, Jesus claims that the sickness will not result in death, but is for the purpose that God will be glorified. It’s actually safe to say that all that God does (or doesn’t do) is for this purpose.  This is the overarching purpose of God.  Now we don’t know whether Mary and Martha got this report. But either way, they expected Lazarus to be healed by Jesus and live.  If they got the message, they would surely have that expectation, and even if they didn’t, they naturally expected Jesus to beat feet there to heal him right away.  So, what does Jesus do?

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was” (v. 5-6).

Because Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus, he stayed two more days in the place where He was. Again, one of the most significant lines in Scripture. This means that Jesus deliberately let Lazarus die.God doesn’t just use disappointments for good, He disappoints us on purpose. Everything that God does is deliberate.  Jesus deliberately waited two days, so that Lazarus would die. He disappointed them. He thwarted their expectations.

Why?

“Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe…” (v.14-15)

God strategically disappoints us so that we will believe.

This proves that Jesus knew exactly what was happening, He knew that Lazarus was dead, and “was glad”.  Why?  THAT YOU MAY BELIEVE. The reason God deliberately disappoints His people? That we may believe. This means that He has an even greater purpose than raising someone from the dead. Belief is even greater than life. That doesn’t seem logical that He’d disappoint people in order to get them to believe, huh?  It seems like He’d want to fulfill our every wish so that we’d believe that He’s able. But it doesn’t work like that. Romans 5:1-5 tells us that it is through trials and suffering that hope is born. It seems like it would be the opposite, but God knows how to birth true hope, which is through disappointment and thwarted expectations.

God disappoints us so that we will believe. How do you think your particular disappointment may be God’s plan at helping you believe? Let’s take this question to the Father, simmer for a bit on this and pick it up tomorrow. Thank you, dear friends, for reading.