Introduction

I know—just reading that title feels wrong. God failing to meet our expectations? That sounds backwards. But let’s be honest: how many times have we prayed for something we deeply wanted, fully expected God to do, and then… He didn’t?

Or at least, He didn’t do it the way we wanted.
Or when we wanted.
Or in the amount of detail we specified in our mental prayer-contract.

When that happens, what’s your first instinct?

If I’m being brutally honest, my very first reaction is rarely, “Hmm… maybe my expectations were off.”
Nope.

My knee-jerk reaction is usually, “God… where were You? Why didn’t You come through?”

Is it the same for you?

Today, I want to walk through what we tend to do when God doesn’t meet our expectations, followed by what we should do instead—grounded not in wishful thinking, but in who God really is.

What We Tend to Do

1. We judge God through the lens of our experiences.

If you’ve walked with Jesus for any amount of time, you’ve probably had seasons where the closeness of God was undeniable—moments when the Holy Spirit comforted you, guided you, strengthened you, or answered prayers in ways that left you speechless.

Those mountaintops are spiritual jet fuel. They help us survive the valleys.

But then the valley inevitably comes.
And we pray. And we wait. And we believe with everything in us that God will surely come through like He did before…

Except this time, He doesn’t.
Or at least, He doesn’t in the way—or the timing—we expected.

And suddenly our confidence wavers. Our trust cracks.
We say with our theology that God is good… but emotionally we feel abandoned.

And that’s the moment when our expectations collide with God’s sovereignty.

So what are we supposed to do with that tension?

Before we get there, let’s dig a little deeper.

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2. We judge God based on others’ experiences.

“Oh, God healed them.”
“God provided for that family.”
“God opened a door for him.”

And when He doesn’t do the same thing for us?
It’s easy to conclude He’s holding out on us. Or that He doesn’t love us as much as we thought He did. Or, worse, that God is simply not fair.

But Scripture shows that God doesn’t operate according to a formula. He’s not Amazon Prime. There’s no guaranteed two-day turnaround on miracles.

Who We Expect God to Be

We often anchor our expectations in God’s names—which is good—but sometimes we treat those names like contractual obligations.

Jehovah Jireh — The Lord Who Provides

Of course we pray for provision. Of course we hope He’ll meet practical needs. Scripture is full of examples of God providing… and of times when He didn’t provide in the way people hoped.

Abraham expected a lamb so he wouldn’t have to sacrifice his son, Isaac.
God provided a ram.
Different. But better.

Provision isn’t wrong to hope for—but God’s timing and method don’t always match our blueprint.

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Jehovah Rapha — The Lord Who Heals

We pray for healing because Jesus healed.
But Jesus didn’t heal everyone.
Paul wasn’t healed of his “thorn.”
Timothy had chronic stomach issues.
Elisha died of an illness.

So what do we do with that?

We learn to live in the mystery—trusting that God is still good, even when healing doesn’t come.

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Jehovah Nissi — The Lord Who Fights for Us

We love this one… especially when life feels like a battle.

But sometimes God fights by delivering us through the fire, not from it.
Sometimes the Red Sea stays closed a little longer than we want.
Sometimes the giants stay in the land longer than seems fair.

Yet He is still fighting.
Just not always in the ways we script.

A Word About Church Hurt

This one matters deeply.

I know believers who have walked away from God—not because God hurt them, but because His people failed them. Sometimes spectacularly.

This isn’t new.
It happened in Jesus’ day too—hypocrisy, pride, corruption, legalism.

Here’s what I want to say gently but clearly:

Jesus never hurt anyone.
But broken people sometimes do.
And it breaks His heart too.

For reasons we don’t fully understand, God chose to spread His Kingdom through imperfect humans. None of us get it right all the time. And sometimes we get it painfully wrong.

If you’ve been wounded by Christians, I’m sorry. Truly.
And my prayer is that God softens those scars, not to erase what happened, but to separate the failures of people from the goodness of Christ.

So What Should We Do When God Doesn’t Meet Our Expectations?

Ready for the plot twist?
We don’t lower our expectations.
We reorient them toward who God really is.

Time for a detour. In little go-carts with lawn mower engines.

The Autopia Analogy

When I was a kid and would have a chance to go to Disneyland, I loved the ride Autopia. I dreamed—quite seriously—of breaking my car off that center rail and driving it around the park for a day. (Dream big, right?)

Here’s the point:

Spiritual disciplines—prayer, worship, Scripture—are our center rail.

When disappointment threatens to yank us off God’s path…

• Prayer pulls us back.
• Worship realigns our hearts.
• Scripture corrects our misunderstanding of who God is.
• Time with Him reminds us that He is faithful even when life doesn’t seem fair.

One of the pastors at our church (Pastor Jason at The Chapel Community Church in Trinity, FL) recently said something profound in one of his sermons. Paraphrasing, here’s the gist of what he said:

Our need to understand everything before we accept anything can become an idol.

That one stung.
Because I want to understand. I crave answers.

But God never promised understanding.
He promised Himself.

He promised His presence.
He promised His goodness.
He promised that all things work together for the good of those who love Him.

But He never promised that all things would make sense.

The Conclusion: When It Feels Like God Let You Down… Draw Closer

The answer isn’t to pull away.
The answer is to press in.

Lean into His presence.
Lean into His Word.
Lean into His character.
Lean into His promises.

Because He is working.
He is present.
He is fighting for you.
He is providing in ways you may not see yet.
He is healing things in you that you aren’t even aware need healing.

He has not failed you.
He has not forgotten you.
He has not abandoned you.

Sometimes the greatest act of faith is not understanding—but trusting anyway. God is always good, regardless of what we see or how we feel in the moment.