I do not like to be disappointed. Unfortunately, my prayer life can be shaped more by this preference than biblical witness. I limit my expectancy of how God is going to be at work in the world around me. In the end, my disappointment avoidance bears the consequence of joy-limited living. I simply avoid taking Kingdom risk in order to play it safe.
And now I am disappointed all over again.
I recently came across a quote by Ted Harro that is especially helpful in reframing my mindset. During a season of prayer, Ted sensed God telling him:
“Trust Me. Act as if I am going to do something wonderful.”[1]
We want to trust God, at least in theory. This is a very Bibly sounding thing to do. The complicated part is trusting God in a way that leads us to act with an expectancy of His doing something wonderful. Our default is to act like God is not going to get involved—at least not on time.
I actively develop contingency plans, preparing for when things will go wrong. The routine begins with preparing myself mentally and emotionally for possible disappointment. I then pray little prayers to make sure that there is not much room for a let-down. Apparently, I do not trust enough to expectantly await something wonderful. I rarely prepare for answered prayers and abundant living.
We can be so concerned about falling into health and wealth thinking that we shy away from expectant prayers. This can be true for us as individuals. Disappointment avoidant prayers as a church are all too often the norm as well. We lack trust, and act as if God is not interested in our Kingdom work.
Challenge
Here is a challenge for us: to expectantly look for God doing something wonderful in and through your church. Make plans to join Him in that good work. Rather than dropping a million little comments about how you don’t know if something is going to work, enjoy holy experimentation.
Have you ever noticed that we love to throw in little joy-sucking comments? “I don’t know if it will work.” “This is going to be a train wreck.” “Does anything good come from Nazareth?”
Rather than being an ever-present wet blanket in every day life, I long to enjoy the wonderful things that God is at work doing. The more we embrace trust of God, the bigger we pray, earnestly seeking out His will.
Maybe disappointment is less scary than missing out on what God is at work doing.
[1] Quote by Ted Harro, President of Renvore. https://renovare.org/president
