Nowhere in Scripture does it say that God is ever disappointed in us. We have to remind ourselves that God loves us more than we will ever know. You see the Father heart of God is one that doesn’t experience disappointment with us. The Father heart of God doesn’t feel shame towards us. Can you take a moment and say this out loud?
I am not a disappointment to God.
Personally, I feel like this is such an important statement to make because it is a game changer. Many of us have gone our whole lives thinking that we are failures, that we don’t measure up, that we are a disappointment to God. Some of us may not even be able to say the words, “I am not a disappointment to God,” because we don’t actually believe it. Many of us have the idea in our head that God is this cosmic ogre who has his arms crossed, shaking his head in disgust when he thinks of us. I want you to know that is a lie. It is a skewed view of God, and Satan loves it when we don’t have a clear view of who God is. God has nothing but love for us. It doesn’t mean he isn’t saddened by our poor choices, by our sin. He doesn’t affirm everything we do. I have three kids. They do some of the craziest things. I don’t affirm everything they do. I am saddened when they do stupid things. When they start doing crazy things, I call them on it to correct them. Why?
Because I love them. It’s the same with God.
Another thing to remember is that God is easily pleased with you but is never satisfied. For those of us who have had children, think back to when your baby took his or her first steps. I remember with our first child, my wife and I spent what was probably hours rejoicing over Jack’s first steps. We would sit on the ground and he would walk back and forth between us. We were thrilled but we weren’t satisfied. We knew that Jack would go on to greater things like walking and running and riding a bike. You are thrilled when your child reaches each of those milestones, but you are not satisfied. It’s the same with God. God is pleased with us when we are fulfilling his will. But he’s not satisfied because he has great things in store for us, including when we reach glory in Heaven.
Consider that God isn’t shocked by anything. God has seen it all. He is all knowing. And because of this, he never says, “Man I didn’t see that one coming.” He knows that although we are the peak of his creation, we are fallible, sinful creatures. He knows what we are made of and in spite of that he still pursues us.
There is no better example of God in pursuit in all of Scripture, than in the life of Peter. On the last night of his life, Jesus gathered his closest friends for an intimate dinner:
Jesus said to his disciples,
“During this very night, all of you will reject me, as the Scriptures say,
‘I will strike down the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.’
But after I am raised to life, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.”
Peter spoke up, “Even if all the others reject you, I never will!”
Peter is feeling pretty good about himself. Pretty confident wouldn’t you agree? Jesus goes on to tell Peter what was going to happen next?
Jesus replied, “I promise you that before a rooster crows tonight, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” But Peter said, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never say I don’t know you.”
All the others said the same thing. (Matthew 26:31 - 35)
A short time later, Jesus’ words came true:
Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.
But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”
After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”
Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. (John 21:15 - 19)
Of Jesus’ twelve disciples Peter was one of the “Big Three” Peter, James, and John were the disciples who were closest to Jesus. Peter was big, he was bold, he was brash, borderline arrogant, confident in who he was as a person. Remember Peter is the one who stepped out of the boat and walked on water towards Jesus. Peter is the one who, when Jesus told his disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and die, Peter in his boldness corrects Jesus and says, “Never Lord, this shall never happen to you.” Peter is the one who, when the mob came to arrest Jesus, he cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant. Peter is the one who tells Jesus that even though everyone else will desert Him, he never will.
And now Peter is left alone, a tragic figure; weeping because he sees his failings as a person. He sees his failings as a friend; his failings as a follower of Jesus. He recognizes that Jesus saw right through his blustery, confident persona and knew Peter better than he knew himself. What Peter was feeling is disappointment with himself. He not only let Jesus down but embarrassingly and publicly he let himself down. In short, Peter came face to face with his own inadequacy. I think our feelings of inadequacy oftentimes leads us to feel we are a disappointment to God. Check back next Friday as I talk about Dos Equis beer commercials and inadequacy.