“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:5).
The evil one lives to undermine our confidence in God’s love and faithfulness towards us in Christ. When adversity strikes, he wastes no time pointing the finger at God as having let us down. (See! You prayed night and day about this and what did it get you?) Or, when we fall, he points the finger at us as having let God down. (“Ha! And you’re supposed to be a Christian!”) Both of those assertions are lies.
The truth of the matter is, though we may feel like it sometimes, we are never a disappointment to God. Disappointment occurs when someone doesn’t live up to our expectations of them. God has no expectations of us. He already knows exactly who we are. He knows our habits and tendencies. We never surprise Him with our choices.
And regarding that second lie, that God has let us down, the truth is He is always more faithful and supportive than we will ever know. Unlike us, He knows what He’s doing. He knows the end from the beginning. The best we can do is hope we know. When we get that new job we hope it is as advertised, but God knows exactly what it is and what awaits us, and is already prepared to support us with the necessary resources. He has already fit “what will be” into His eternal purposes and our highest good.
Jesus’ prayer was for the protection not just of our circumstances but for our faith to remain anchored in a God who never lets us down (i.e. never fails us) and who always adores us.
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