God is Not Disappointed In You (Revised)

This was the first post I ever wrote on this blog. Even though it was originally less than 300 words long and probably not my best work, it still gets traffic. People often search “is God disappointed in me” and find their way to my blog. Feeling like God is disappointed in us is very common! Today I am re-posting it with some revisions and new thoughts because I need to hear it again, and maybe you do too!

Have you ever found yourself avoiding God because you could feel His disappointment?

I do! Back in my cultic days, I used to feel like I needed to perform all the time so that God would be happy with me and like me more. If I failed, forgot to pray, didn’t read my Bible, fell back into old habits, chose to be selfish, etc. then I “knew” God was disappointed in me, so I avoided Him. These feelings still creep in from time to time.

Maybe you can relate.

Here is our problem! Too often, we create a God “in our own image” instead of remembering that we were made in His! We can easily picture our parents, teacher, friends, spouse, children, etc being disappointed in us, so why not God? It just makes sense to us. We don’t understand God; He is too big, too different, for us to “get”. And as a result, we tend to create an image of Him based on what we do understand. Well, I have news for you!

God is never disappointed in us. God doesn’t get disappointed!

Don’t agree? Let me explain. I’ve searched the Bible to find God’s disappointment and I can’t! I found instances where God felt  angry about sin and sad about sin, but never disappointed. Why?

I believe disappointment is a purely human emotion. In order to feel disappointment, you have to have higher expectations for someone than they can, or choose to meet. God doesn’t have higher expectations than we can meet. He knows everything about us, including the absolute depths of our mess, and He chooses to love us right there in the middle of it. Nothing surprises Him! He knows about the secret sin that you can’t seem to get rid of. He knows about the anger and hurt you hold inside. He knows the things you hope no one ever finds out. And even though He knows, He loves us! He is not disappointed!

I don’t know about you, but I find that freeing!

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Romans 8:1.

No condemnation, ever. When we chose to believe that Jesus Christ paid for our sins by His death on the cross, our sins are gone. (Psalms 103:8-18) God doesn’t see them anymore and there is no condemnation. (John 3:18) He is not disappointed in us. He delights in us! God  wants us to enjoy the freedom we have been given to know Him and be His child! Yes, there is a need for confession and repentance (1 John 1:9) but we can seek God for forgiveness and strength and help, confident of His love, knowing we will never face His disappointment.

You want more? Read the whole chapter of Romans 8. It’s beautiful! And refreshing! And amazing! Here is another snippet.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

If God will never be disappointed in you, what does that mean to you?

It reminds me that I can come to Him without fear or shame, no matter what state I am in! And, that is a wonderful thing because I need Him!