Have you had friends let you down??? Have you had people in authority let you down??? Have church leaders let you down???
I can say that as a family we have experienced all 3 of the above, and when it does happen it leaves us feeling like the floor has opened up under us and we are hanging by a thread.
Now is the problem with the ones who we feel have let us down, or is our problem with us.
I think the problem is with us.
My husband’s favourite saying is:
“We can only rely on God, man will let us down, but God never will”.
And one of my daughters sayings:
“it is our expectations that lead to our disappointment”.
So you see the problem isn’t the people who let us down, but the problem is our expecting to be able to rely on them or our expectations of them.
We expect people we admire to be people to admire, but we forget that just like us they are human and they sin.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
Did you read that?? It said ALL, not some, but ALL have sinned and we ALL come short of the glory of God.
We have had Church leaders, who we admired and expected great things from, fall from grace. It hasn’t just destroyed them, but taken a bit of the congregation with them, but again we have forgotten that they are human and Romans 3:23 stands for them as well.
We have put them in a place that no one other than God deserves to be put. We sometimes forget that God is God and not man.
There have been posts put up lately about issues happening in the Christian world and the falling from grace by certain people and I feel the anger and frustration of fellow Christians regarding these matters.
I get it, I really understand the issues and the frustrations but once again I come to Romans 3:23 and stand next to those who have fallen and state again that I am just like them. I and them and all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
So let’s take our eyes off those who have fallen and stop putting these people in places they shouldn’t be put and keep our eyes on the one who should only be put in that place.
JESUS
Mankind will always let us down but JESUS never will, he is the only one to be exalted to a higher place.
Philippians 2:9-11 “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father
You may find this post linked up at some of these great blogs.
Beautiful thoughts my friend, and exactly how I feel as well with the current situation that you are probably speaking of… he who is without sin, cast the first stone. A great thought addressing a difficult issue!
Thank you MM for sharing your thoughts with us and for being such an encouragement. Blessings to you
Very well-written and so true, my sweet friend. We can’t afford to put our faith in anyone but God. I think of that verse that says, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” So true. My family and I have experienced much heartache, also, over having too high opinions of humans. But, in the end, God is so faithful, and He proves that time and time again….He is the One we should trust and pray for those who let us down and love them, in spite of it, because, like you said we have ALL sinned and come short, that’s for sure! 🙂
Thank you Cheryl for your comment and for sharing your heart, you are so right it is better to put our trust in the Lord and not man. Many blessings to you and your family. xxxx
A good and timely post. Yes people will let us down, no matter how good and generally reliable they are. It happens. But God will never ever let us down, hallelujah!
You are so right MB, thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us. God will never let us down, how wonderful. Blessings
Yes, life is easier to everyone if we keep our eyes on Jesus. Thanks for your meaningful post, neighbor. Blessings upon blessings!
You are so right Mari-Anna, thanks for stopping by and for being a neighbour and for your encouragement. Blessings to you too.
So blessed to have been your neighbor at Playdates with God today. I am recovering from being hurt from church leadership, so I love this perspective. I did put those humans higher than they should have been and that is what hurt when they acted like humans…I will be grabbing on to the Romans 3 verse.
Thank you Winter for sharing your heart with us and having been in the same place God and His word is all we can hang onto. Blessings to you and thanks for stopping by. xxx
Amen…So true…we’re all sinners in need of grace and only God is infallible and perfect…nice to meet you via #SmallWonder
Nice to meet you to Dolly, thank you for stopping by and for your comment. Blessings
Dear Terri, I appreciate this article a lot. We need to be reminded that leaders always fail but God never does!
Thank you so much.
Many Blessings to you.
Thank you Ifeoma for your comment and how wonderful it is to know that God is always there and He will never let us down. Thanks and blessings to you.
Yes, yes, yes. Keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, not each other. We extend our hands to each other, but our gaze is on our Lord!
Thank you Lisa for stopping by and for your comment and for your encouragement to keep our eyes on the Lord. Blessings
My friend says, “Expectations are premeditated resentments.” That’s a good one to think over, but I really do find it hard work to be aware of my own expectations for others – so often they are very subtle. I need God’s spirit to help me see.
Yes I think you are right Kelly, they can be very subtle, thanks for stopping by. Blessings
Well said Terri, and I really like your husband and daughter’s sayings 🙂 It is so easy to put people on a pedestal, but we need to remember that everyone is fallible, not just us ‘normal’ people! Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you Gwen for your comment and for stopping by. You are right it is so easy to put people up there and I definitely don’t want anyone putting me in a place I shouldn’t be put. We all sin but thank you God for your Amazing Grace. Blessings to you and your family. xxxx
I haven’t had any time to get onto the computer for any reason right now, but this was well worth my five minutes this week. We forget–we are humans–and so are those around us. If any of us were perfect, we wouldn’t need Jesus. And He is all we need. Amen.
Thank you for gracefully putting this out at a time when we are globally shooting our own for “let downs.” None of us are perfect–but we are called to forgive and love each other anyway. Because He did first.
Blessings,
Every time I come here, I am convinced more and more we have such similar hearts.
I have missed you this week, but I totally understand, and I hope you are all well.
It is so easy to forget we are all humans and sinners I agree and yes if we were perfect we wouldn’t need Jesus. Forgiveness can be a hard lump to swallow, but oh so necessary
for our well being. Thank the Lord for his grace.
Thank you for always being so encouraging and you are so special to me. Blessings
In the middle of our high expectations I love how you pointed back to the fact that we are all sinners. God expects a lot from us but we in turn do the same to others without regard for the fact that they are human. Blessed you shared this at The Weekend Brew.
Thank you so much Mary for sharing your thoughts with us, blessings.
So true, Terri! I have also experienced all of those. It is indeed expectations of people that lead to our disappointment. Your daughter is wise. We need to just let people be who they are and not expect them to meet our unsaid needs. Only Jesus can do that. Your neighbor at Sunday Stillness.
Thank you Mary you are so right, only Jesus can meet all our needs. Thanks for stopping by and for sharing. Blessings
Pour post pays tribute to a foundational truth. It makes plain that none of us stands higher than another. We, humans, are flawed. Each one. Learning to walk in this truth is what grace is about. The favor granted to us from Christ should be granted to all. What a great word Terri!
Thank you so much Lisha for your encouraging comment and thank you for hosting. Blessings to you and yours.