Reality is Often Disappointing

On Friday night my wife and I stayed up late to watch the highly-anticipated boxing match between the legendary Mike Tyson and the haughty, up-and-coming fighter Jake Paul. It was a long wait from the first fight at 8 pm until Paul and Tyson finally squared off close to midnight. But we were determined to make it to the end since everything about the event felt like the Super Bowl (at least, it was marketed to be that way).

When the match finally started, the adrenaline kicked in. Crowds were cheering on the "sentimental favorite" Tyson as his offensive attack began. But it didn't take long for reality to set in. After just a few rounds, Tyson's stamina waned and the match turned into a drawn out defensive contest with little excitement.

When the fight ended and Paul was announced the victor, I immediately recalled the phrase the villain Thanos used in the Avengers movie, "Reality is often disappointing." What was expected to be an explosive, exciting contest with the potential for knockout, marvelous upset, comeback, and more ended up drawing criticism as a possible "publicity stunt."

It's true. Reality is often disappointing. When I look at God's Word, I see disappointment left and right. When Moses and Aaron led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt, the people quickly became disappointed with their leaders as they struggled to find food and survive in a harsh desert climate. When the people of Israel later demanded a king to rule them, they were given Saul, who would grow to become troubled and wicked in his later years. And according to prophecy, the people of Israel sought a savior that would free them from Roman oppression and establish Israel as a kingdom over all nations - and let's just say this, the true Messiah had other plans!

The funny thing about each of these examples above is that God, in each situation, was able to work through the disappointment to reveal more of His heart towards us and offer us a way to be closer to Him. While the Hebrews wandered the desert, God sustained them miraculously for 40 years by providing the food and drink they needed, supernaturally. Though Saul would go on to become a wicked king, the next man to take the throne, King David, would become one of Jesus' great ancestors (through his earthly father, Joseph). And while Jesus didn't come to overthrow Rome, He came to topple sin across the world (Jew and Gentile alike) and break the chains of spiritual suffering. He paid our debt to sin (ref. Romans 6:23) and this sacrifice offers us reconciliation with our Heavenly Father through repentance and faith in Christ (ref. Acts 17:30, Ephesians 2:8).

Reality, or should I say, OUR view of reality may be disappointing. But God is never disappointing.

We may develop our own ideas of who God is and what God should do for us - what love is and what love means - but the truth is, the Bible says we must put aside our understand and lean on God's Word (ref. Proverbs 3:5-6). Rather than clinging to our view of things, we must come into alignment with God's plans if we are to experience the blessing He has for us.

I get that it's difficult to be praying for something you want (like a baby, a relationship, or a family member to recover from illness) and become disappointed over and over again that those prayers aren't being answered in the way that you might have hoped. But as the scripture says...

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)

We will never be able to understand everything (ref. 1 Corinthians 13:12), but we can experience God's favor in our lives in ways we didn't expect. I'll give you an example from my own life...

When I was in high school, I bowled competitively. Bowling was important for me because I never excelled at any other athletic activity. But to say my first two years on the bowling team were rough is an understatement. I fought to understand why God would allow me to be tested like I was - not bowling well and bullied by older teammates. But to my surprise, in junior year of high school, I ended up winning a state sectional championship. My senior year would be the year I would break most of the high school records for bowling (later broken again by my younger brother).

Now, I wasn't walking with God as close as I am now. But even then His grace abounded in my life and I see clearly now what He was doing and why. You may be struggling with something now but I pray that you can look back at your situation one day and see God's goodness in it.

I'll be fair, disappointment sucks in the moment. But God's plan is not momentary, it's eternal. His plan for you, wherever you're at, is the same as mine. His goal is the same - to take you to a place where you will submit to His will and say, "Father, I need you. I turn away from my sin and choose to walk with your Son Jesus, believing that He died on the Cross for me and paid my debt to sin. Please forgive me and accept me into Your family for eternity."

If you can do that my friend, and you can commit to being His disciple, you will never see life through the same lens again. Disappointment may still come, but instead of living and breathing in that disappointment, your life will have found a newer, greater purpose, with the hope of eternal reward and an escape from the despair and grim fate of hell.

We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed - always carrying about in the body the dying of the LORD Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)

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