Threat to Faith: Disappointment

Last week we considered how we might strengthen our faith from Mark 9:14-29  I quoted Richard Sibbes, “Keep faith and keep all.  If faith be safe all is safe… Let us strengthen [faith] and strengthen all.  Weaken [faith] and we weaken all.  (Sibbes v.1 p.110)

We can strengthen our faith when we fight against the threats to our faith– one such threat to faith comes in the form of disappointment.

Disappointment is a great threat to faith because disappointment often keeps our eyes on the perceived problem rather than the only place where there is a solution. The man with the demon possessed son could probably very easily recite what is wrong with his son and the oppression he endures.  Disappointment would threaten to keep his eyes on the past and say, “God hasn’t done anything to fix this so far, why would he ever?”

Disappointment can be a threat to our faith because it feeds off of our expectations— what we thought others would do, and even what we thought God would do.  Our expectations of God are almost always driven by what we, in our limited and finite mind think God should do.  But Faith looks at the Word of God at what he has done and bases what we should expect off of his unchanging truth.

When we base our expectations on other people rather than God we can easily be disappointed. We point to the Christians and say, “since they let me down, I’m not going to trust God.”  But the object of our faith isn’t another person’s faith.  The object of our faith is the character and work of the great Triune God.   All of us will be disappointed by other Christians.   This man was disappointed Jesus’ disciples couldn’t fix his son.  But Jesus could.