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God's hand in disappointment

Writer's picture: Hannah ElizabethHannah Elizabeth

I’ve recently been learning about different expectations in my life. Things I assume or believe will happen, how things in my mind should play out in my life or a certain situation. However, our expectations don’t always match reality; and we often don’t realize that we have expectations to begin with. Life is full of unexpected events, and expectations are not always met. This brings on the feelings of disappointment. Our assumptions can quickly be brought to reality, when they’re not matched. 


When looking at my life, and the changes I’ve experienced over the past two months, being 9,000 miles from home, this has grown to be true for me personally. There are a lot of things I was expecting that didn’t turn into a reality. There has also been a lot of reality I’ve experienced, that I wasn’t expecting. This can be hard, bringing about questioning and disappointment. When journaling about it, my mind was immediately brought to the story of Naomi in the book of Ruth. 


The story of Ruth is quite common, however many happen to glance over the life of Naomi. Naomi left her hometown with her husband and two sons, with the expectation of finding a better life in Moab, because Bethlehem had a famine in the land (Ruth 1: 1, CSB). I can imagine she was expecting to find a life of security, abundance in food, and a good life for her family. While this was true for a while, Naomi’s husband and two children ended up dying, and she was left without them (1:5). She may have had food in Moab, but that did not matter when she watched her husband die, followed by the death of both of her sons.


Can you imagine the disappointment when the expectation for her life was absolutely shattered? The Bible says when she returned to Bethlehem, with one of her daughter-in-laws, Ruth, that Naomi stated, “I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has opposed me, and the Almighty has afflicted me” (1:21)? This is not the life Naomi expected to experience in Moab, nor the life she wanted.


However, in the midst of loss, pain, and a true feeling of emptiness, God was actively working in her life. God provided redemption for Naomi’s family land and family name, through her deceased husband's relative, Boaz. God allowed Naomi to experience the companionship and blessing of unity with her daughter-in-law Ruth. And God allowed Naomi to become a direct descendent, through Ruth, to our Savior, Christ Jesus.


When Naomi was bitter, disappointed, and experiencing so much pain- God knew the plan He had for her life, it had never changed. A plan that would connected her as a direct descendant of His very Son, the character of God in a physical body. When Naomi’s eyes were focused on the pain of her expectations being shattered, God lifted up her head through the hope of a new life in Him. He was always at work, even in the famine. He stayed working when she lost her husband. And His hand was still active, when both of her children died. He traded Naomi’s bitterness for the joy of the Lord. 


Psalm 37: 25 says, “I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned or His children begging for bread."


Psalm 16: 6 says, “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” 


I want to encourage you today, despite the disappointments or unmet expectations that you may be facing, strengthen yourself in the Lord and the truth of His Word. Just because things are different that what you had in mind, doesn’t mean God has stopped working. In fact, it may mean He is choosing to work in a way beyond your understanding, so He can receive the glory. 


I can imagine Naomi didn’t expect her hardships to open the door for her to become a direct relative of the Savior of the world, yet that is how God chose to work. Stand in confidence, knowing that God has you right where you are supposed to be. He is doing a work, greater than yourself. I know this to be true in my life as well, as I am standing alongside you today, fighting the battle with you, hand in hand.


Choose to let Him work.


He is faithful beyond our understanding and deserving of praise in every situation we face in this life. 


With love and prayers,

Hannah Elizabeth



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abigailaltman23
Oct 05, 2024

Flabba loves you!

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