When God Doesn’t Meet Our Expectations (Part 1)

Broken relationships and troubling trends assaulted our church. I joined other believers, begging God to save our fellowship. We pleaded for him to intervene, yet conditions worsened as one group tried to force its way on the other. How should we respond when God doesn’t meet our expectations? Scripture reveals folks who faced the same dilemma. We find them lining a Jerusalem road with their cloaks and waving palm branches on the day we call Palm Sunday.

Passover ~ A Time of High Expectations

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread celebrated God’s deliverance of his people from Egyptian bondage. The annual festival reignited national pride and dreams of freedom from oppression. Many yearned to see their country redeemed and restored to its former glory. Hopes ran high that God would meet their expectations by sending his long-promised Messiah soon.

Since Jewish law required all Jewish men to attend the feast, Jerusalem’s population swelled from 50,000 to 120,000. Imagine you’re in that number. You’ve made the eighty-mile trek from Galilee with your family and friends, enjoying the camaraderie and relief from daily chores. The crowd swells as you near the city. Jerusalem can’t accommodate all the pilgrims, so you and your family camp on a hill on the city’s eastern side. 

You see Jesus and his disciples in the distance and race to welcome them, struggling to glimpse the famous rabbi in the growing crowd. You’ve heard stories about his healing the blind and lame, casting out demons, and raising Lazarus from the dead. Your heart pounds and skin tingles as you wonder whether he might be the one who will overthrow your Roman overlords. As he comes into view, you notice he’s riding a donkey, and you remember Zechariah’s prophecy (Zechariah 9:9). Despite longing for a conquering king on a warhorse rather than a plainly-dressed rabbi on a donkey, you join the deafening cheers and jubilation by waving palm branches.

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 

“Blessed is the king of Israel!” 

Psalm 118:25-26; John 12:13

The palm branches symbolize your Jewish identity and passion for freedom. “Hosanna,” meaning “Save now,” is your plea but also a slogan of the ultra-nationalist Zealots. Although you’re not a radical, you’ve had your fill of Rome’s heavy-handedness and harassment. Could this be the time? Might Jesus be the Messiah?

When God Doesn’t Meet Our Expectations

Like the first-century Jews, my praying friends and I wanted God to “save now,” and we assumed he would act the way we thought best. Jesus’ contemporaries expected a military leader who would deliver them by defeating Rome, but he rejected their game plan. We hoped God would rescue our community of faith by changing hearts, but the polarization increased.

Have you been there? You plead with a heavy heart and knotted stomach that God will answer your prayers one way, but he either answers another or seems to do nothing. What then? What happens to our faith when God’s salvation doesn’t match our predictions, when he doesn’t meet our expectations? When he insists on acting like a suffering servant instead of a conquering king? When he appears to let evil win? 

History describes another triumphal entry that occurred in Jerusalem during the Passover season. In the next post, we’ll examine the other procession, one that offered a competing vision and strategy for victory. Then, we must decide which parade we’ll attend and which leader we’ll follow.

To read “When God Doesn’t Meet Our Expectations (Part 2)”

When has God failed to meet your expectations? Have you discovered his better plan yet? Join the conversation by adding your comments below.

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