The Average Christian Has Not Been Taught Disappointment.

The Earlier You Learn How To Deal With Disappointments, The Better.

Dearest Light,

“The average Christian has not been taught disappointment. They’ve been taught faith in a way that they can’t be disappointed.”

I heard Pastor Adewunmi Adeusi of Covenant Connect say these words earlier this week and they stayed with me because they explained something I have seen for years but never fully articulated.

A lot of Christians have been taught faith almost like a transaction. Pray correctly. Believe strongly. Stay holy. Obey God. Then life should move smoothly. So when disappointment comes, many believers are not just hurt by the pain itself; they are confused by it. They begin to question God, question themselves, and question whether they were abandoned.

But nowhere in the Bible is Christianity presented as immunity from the totality of pain while on Earth. Jesus suffered while the Father watched.

That alone should destroy the idea that suffering is always evidence of God’s absence. Isaiah 53:3 says, “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.” Even Christ, the beloved Son of God, was not exempt from suffering.

Sometimes we speak as though difficulty automatically means God has withdrawn His hand from someone’s life. Yet the greatest act of love in human history happened through suffering. God looked at humanity, looked at the weight of sin, looked at the cost of redemption, and still chose to give His Son. Not gold, not angels, not animals, not another substitute — His Son.

That means love and pain are not always opposites.

You will be disappointed sometimes, even as a Christian. Prayers will seem unanswered. Seasons will feel unfair. Certain losses will leave you confused. But disappointment should never make you doubt the love of God.

The presence of trouble is not the absence of God.

Romans 8:35 reminds us: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” Paul asks this question because believers will encounter these things. The existence of suffering does not cancel the existence of God’s love.

I know how easy it is to forget this in difficult moments. I have been there too. There were seasons I genuinely thought God was angry with me because too many things were going wrong at once. But looking back now, I can see that God was present the entire time. Silent sometimes, yes. But absent? Never. Some parts of our journey can only be understood in retrospect.

One thing I have noticed about difficult seasons is how the devil tries to intensify them emotionally. When one bad thing happens after another, the real battle is often for your joy, your hope, and your consciousness of who you are in God. The goal is not just to make you suffer. The goal is to make you lose perspective. To make you forget that you are still loved, still chosen, still held by God even in uncertainty.

Do not help the devil destroy you emotionally. You must learn to hold pain and hope at the same time.

This is why I believe there should never be a season where a believer stops expecting good things from God. Desire is not arrogance. Hope is not foolishness. Even God desires things. Scripture itself reveals the desires of God for men, for nations, for purpose, for redemption. So there is nothing humble about existing without expectation, without vision, without anticipation.

Hope keeps the human spirit alive.

I always tell people that the best of God is not in the past. And I do not say that as motivational quote. I say it because I genuinely believe it is something God revealed to me — not just for myself, but for my generation and for the people connected to my life.

When good things happen, something greater is still ahead. When painful things happen, something greater is still ahead.

That is why gratitude matters so deeply. Gratitude protects perspective. It reminds you that your life is bigger than one difficult chapter.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 says, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” No one really asks you to give thanks when things are good because you'll naturally be happy and grateful. However, the bad times? You are reminded to give thanks because God remains good through every circumstance.

Nothing can truly destroy a person who remains conscious of God’s presence, God’s love, and God’s purpose over their life.

Be hopeful. Have expectations. Have prayers you are still excited to pray. Have dreams that still make your heart come alive.

Because no matter how difficult life becomes, God has not stopped being God, and you have not stopped being His child.

Light, the best of God is not in the past.