Presented by Julie Busteed

Maybe you’ve dreamed of a promotion or a certain career path, but for reasons outside your control, those dreams haven’t become reality. Maybe you’ve longed for a spouse, yet that relationship has never come. Maybe you dreamed of a strong and joyful marriage, but it hasn’t turned out the way you had hoped. Or perhaps you’ve desired to have a family, and that longing remains unfulfilled. Maybe it’s your health that has changed unexpectedly. What went wrong?

There are so many expectations in life—good desires, even good gifts that our Father often gives. So why hasn’t it worked out for you?

With all of this comes real sorrow—grieving the life you thought God would bless you with. What do you do with that grief? How do you move forward?

I think sometimes we think we should put on a brave face and not face the sorrow or grieve the pain of unrealized expectations. But the Bible has a lot to say about lamenting. Lamenting is the process of expressing sorrow, grief, and pain. About one-third of the entire book of Psalms is about lamenting. We see personal laments like David crying out to God and community laments when the people of God cry out to him.

And of course, there is a book of the Bible with that title—Lamentations—written by the prophet Jeremiah. He is often called the weeping prophet. His heart was broken over things that break God’s heart. He laments the sin of the Israelites and the impending destruction of Jerusalem. He laments the future, but he still has hope. In the middle of the book of Lamentations Jeremiah acknowledges this.

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord (Lamentations 3:22-26).

Even though Jeremiah wasn’t around to see the Messiah Jesus Christ come, he had hope in the midst of sorrow. And in Hebrews chapter 11, known as the Hall of Faith, we read about the patriarchs, kings, prophets, and others who were hoping and looking forward for the promised Messiah but didn’t see it happen in their lifetime. The last two verses are:

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect (Hebrews 11:39-40).

They had unfulfilled hopes and expectations, and I wonder how hard that must have been. To wait on God and not see the answer. But they didn’t lose hope. Because God had planned something better.