It’s human nature to develop expectations for life, and for how we think it should go for us as followers of Jesus. We paint pictures in our minds of how we want things to turn out, and it’s hard when reality doesn’t match that picture. It’s even harder when we’ve attached our sense of worth or significance to those expectations, like a buoy to a ship in a storm.

I remember when I placed a huge expectation on Marcus and myself. The dream was a large church, teeming with people, their lives being transformed every week. I associated the success of this dream with our significance and my worth.

But the dream didn’t materialize as expected. And it hurt. I grieved. I grieved for the unmet expectations, for the spotlight we never got, and for the strain it placed on Marcus. It felt like a death – the death of a dream. But in that grief, I discovered something profound.

God was not the author of my pain but a companion through it. Psalm 28:7-8 was a soothing balm to my grieving spirit. It reminded me that my strength and shield, my helper in times of distress, was not in the manifestation of my dreams, but in the LORD. My heart, once burdened with the weight of unmet expectations, found solace in His enduring love.

In the process, I had to confront my misplaced sense of significance. My worth was not in a large church or a high profile position, but in being a loved and valued child of God. This was a hard truth to swallow, but it was also liberating.

If you’re grappling with unmet expectations today, remember it’s okay to grieve. It’s okay to feel the weight of disappointment. But don’t let it define you. Your worth is not tied to the outcomes you desire, but to the One who created you. The Lord is your strength and shield, and He is ever ready to help you.

So today, release your unmet expectations to God. Tell Him your dreams, your desires, your disappointments. Let Him be your strength, your shield, your heart’s trusted confidant. Allow the comforting truth of Psalm 28:7-8 to infuse hope into your heart.

And like me, you’ll find that even in grieving unmet expectations, you can say with confidence, “Lord, I trust you.”