Have you ever built something up in your mind so incredibly, so perfectly, so certainly… only to watch it all fall apart? Maybe it was that dream job that turned out to be more of a nightmare. Maybe it was a relationship that whispered “forever” and then ghosted before the wedding vows. Maybe you prayed with faith, believed God was going to move a mountain—and the mountain didn’t budge an inch.
Unmet expectations are brutal. They can crush spirits and shake faith to the core. We’re not alone in that. In fact, when Jesus walked the earth, His followers became disappointed when He didn't take on the role they expected.
This is exactly what happened in Matthew 21. We see that a crowd of people were praising Jesus, shouting, “Hosanna in the highest!” as He rode into Jerusalem on a colt. They layed cloaks on the ground for His path and waved palm branches to honor Him. "This is it," the Jews thought. "This is the moment we will be freed from Roman rule! He’s going to overthrow Rome and fix everything!
They had expectations. Big ones.
But, just days later, the same crowd cried out: “Crucify him!” What happened?
Jesus didn’t do what the people thought He would. He didn’t raise an army. He didn’t call down angels. He didn’t even resist arrest.
And just like that, their praise turned to betrayal. Their hope turned to offense. Their faith was swallowed by disappointment.
Isn’t that what unmet expectations do? They play tricks on our hearts. We thought we knew what God was doing… and then the script changes.
Jesus never promised political victory. He promised a kingdom—not of this world. But the people missed it because they were holding God to a plan He never agreed to.
And if we’re honest, we do it too.
How many times have we said, “God, I trust You,” but what we really meant was, “God, I trust You as long as You do what I want”? We stake our faith on the assumption that our plan is the right plan. And when God doesn’t deliver, we spiral. We question His goodness. We question His presence. Sometimes, we even walk away.
But what if we tried a different approach?
Hang with me here—what if we just… let go? What if we stopped holding people and God to expectations they never agreed to?
So many of our relational breakdowns come from this place—assuming something without ever talking about it. The same thing happens in our walk with God. We say, “You were supposed to do this,” and God’s like, “I never said I would.”
Jesus addressed this in Matthew 11:6:
“And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Even John the Baptist’s followers—John, who baptized Jesus and prepared the way—were confused when Jesus didn’t meet their expectations. But Jesus gently reminded them: Don’t stumble over what you don’t understand. Just trust Me.
So what do we do when God doesn’t meet our expectations?
You can tell Him you’re disappointed. He already knows. The Psalms are full of this kind of raw honesty. Even Jesus, in Gethsemane, cried out, “If it’s possible, take this cup from me.” (Matthew 26:39) But then He followed with: “Not my will, but Yours be done.”
There’s so much freedom in saying, “God, I don’t get it. I’m hurting. But I still trust You.”
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to say,
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)
Perspective changes everything. We see the moment—God sees eternity. When you ask for His viewpoint, He begins to lift your eyes from the mess and reveal a bigger picture.
The Holy Spirit, who lives in us, helps interpret God’s heart and thoughts. He gives peace when the path looks uncertain and reminds us: this story isn’t over yet.
When disappointment hits, it’s easy to forget the times God came through. But those moments matter. Remembering His faithfulness in specific life events builds our faith and shows us that God cares about every detail of our lives.
Just the other day, God demonstrated how the big and small things in our lives matter to Him. My son was at an acceptance weekend for college, and we’d been praying he would find a roommate. At breakfast in the hotel—out of all the hotels, all the students, all the possibilities—he bumped into someone we kind of knew. Now, they’re rooming together. Coincidence? Maybe. But when you’re praying and God moves in the details, it sure feels like confirmation.
When we look back and reflect, we realize: He’s always been faithful. He still is.
Matthew 10:39 says:
“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
When we clutch our plans tightly, we lose sight of the bigger purpose. But when we surrender—really surrender—God starts to build something better than we imagined. Surrendering your plan doesn't mean giving up hope—it means trusting God enough to believe His plan is better, even if it looks different.
This is a tough one. But it’s a game changer.
Imagine what our relationships—both with God and people—would look like if we just… loved. No strings. No hidden agendas. No “I’ll love you if…”
Expectations are often unspoken contracts. But love, real love, isn’t contractual. It's covenantal. It stays, even when things don’t go as planned.
Letting go of expectations doesn’t mean we stop praying or hoping. It just means we stop assuming our plan is the only way.
God didn’t fail when He didn’t overthrow Rome—He was building something greater. An eternal kingdom. A forever freedom. Something that couldn’t be stolen by empires or disappointments.
So today, let’s not move from “Hosanna!” to “Crucify Him!” because our expectations weren’t met. Let’s move from “God, here’s my plan,” to “God, not my will but Yours be done.”
Let go.
Trust deeper.
And remember—He’s faithful even when the story takes an unexpected turn.