Recently, my husband took a work trip to Chicago and I was able to go with him. We had not been away together in years. I’m not even exaggerating, y’all. YEARS. We did take the newborn with us, but it was still quite exciting to get away. We pulled out of the driveway on a sunny Thursday morning with classic country on the radio and Starbucks in our hands. We took the back roads and the baby slept the whole way. This was going to be awesome.

By the time Saturday rolled around, however, the toilet had overflowed in our hotel room, the baby had cried non stop and my husband had food poisoning. Did I mention it was also pouring down rain? I had been envisioning peaceful mornings with my Bible and coffee, afternoons watching TLC (don’t judge me) and evenings in the city with my man. What I had, instead, was a hotel room with sketchy wi-fi that reeked of dirty diapers, leftover pizza and misery.

Hello, disappointment.

We took the Interstates on the way home because, hello, it was time to wrap this trip up. I sat in the back seat because, of course, my sweet baby cried the whole way. I may or may not have been grumbling in my heart just a little. Okay, fine, I was having a big ol’ pity party. I would have invited y’all but, honestly, these parties are usually pretty lame.

I couldn’t help but think of the things that bring us disappointment. The list is endless. We plan a huge surprise for the kids and they aren’t as thrilled as we had imagined. We expect to spend some money on something fun but, then, the car breaks down or the roof starts to leak. We don’t get that job. Our child doesn’t make the team. A relationship doesn’t work out. A friend moves away.

Disappointment comes when we do not get what we expected to get. Or, it may come when something happens that we did not expect. Unfortunately, life is full of the unexpected and, therefore, disappointment.

If we expect to never struggle financially – disappointment.

If we expect life to be easy – disappointment.

If we expect people to never let us down – disappointment.

If we expect illness to never come our way – disappointment.

There is good  news, though. Aren’t you glad?

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” – Romans 10:11 NASV

We can expect God to be who he says he is and we will never be disappointed. We can expect God to do what he says he will do and we will never be disappointed. We can expect God to be where he says he will be and we will never be disappointed.

Life is hard and that is just a fact. Sometimes, you are expecting a weekend away and you end up with some bad Chinese food. At the end of the day, however, God is still God. We can choose to wallow in disappointment or believe in the One who never disappoints.

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You are so loved.

Stacy