Give glory, you sons of Jacob; adore him, you daughters of Israel. He has never let you down, never looked the other way when you were being kicked around. He has never wandered off to do his own thing; he has been right there, listening. Psalm 22:24-25 MSG
A lot of us Christians experience deep-down insecurities. We struggle with feeling God is disappointed with us. When we are disappointed with God and we feel like He hasn’t done what we expected or wanted, we get frustrated, upset, and disillusioned. Then it occurs to us that perhaps all this happened because God is disappointed in us. We haven’t done enough good. And on the bad side, we’ve messed up. We’ve said and thought terrible things.
Here's the thing. Disappointment happens because of unfulfilled hopes, desires, expectations, and imaginations. I expect you to respond to me in a certain way, to do this or that, to make my dreams reality. I imagine outcomes, things that never materialize. I think you should have or could have, and you don’t, so I am disappointed.
And this is why God is not disappointed in you when you are disappointed with Him. He is not disillusioned by you. He has absolutely no illusions about you. He knows you completely, the good and the bad. Nothing impacts His feelings about you. You don’t surprise Him. He loves you just as much on your worst day as your best day. He delights in you as His child. God grieves with you and for you when you live below your capabilities, when you live in darkness, when you don’t trust – but not because you let Him down. He just knows you are missing the joys He wants for you. God is never disillusioned by you; God never had any illusions about you in the first place. As the worship song “Jireh” says, “I'll never be more loved than I am right now, wasn't holding You up, So there's nothing I can do to let You down. It doesn't take a trophy to make You proud – I’ll never be more loved than I am right now” (Elevation Worship).
Psalm 22 starts with David crying out to God, “Why have you forsaken me?” But in the middle of his psalm, he regains his footing and erupts with praise that even though he gets disappointed in God temporarily, God doesn’t respond in kind. “He has never let you down, never looked the other way.” His love is relentless.
- Oh, God! How I thank You that your feelings toward me are never reliant on how I feel or perform. Your love for me inspires me and lifts me to my best self and future.