God truly does work in mysterious ways, doesn’t he? His ways are so mysterious, that they can appear disappointing in our human perspective. The question is, in your disappointment, have you given up and dismissed yourself from seeing the fullness of what God was doing?

Many years ago, my husband and I gave up a very successful business we had built in Dallas to follow the prompting of God to go to El Paso, Texas to help build a church. Once there, we struggled to pay rent, struggled to keep the repo man from taking our truck, struggled to buy groceries. Life became one big struggle.

Our little boy was in kindergarten and he was required to wear a uniform. We could only afford to buy 2 uniform shirts, so when 1 of those shirts got ruined, I was washing that lone little white shirt by hand every single night. Struggling.

My sister, if you’re in a season of struggle, please know I understand. I’ve been in the struggle.

But we were there out of obedience. I thought surely obedience would be handsomely rewarded. Then the church fell apart and closed, the family we moved there to help left, and there we were left with absolutely nothing but a mess to clean up. Why in the world did God bring us there to fail? I’ve never been more disappointed in my life.

Y’all it’s one thing to struggle when you still have hope. It’s a completely different thing to struggle when you’re sorely disappointed. But what if this disappointment is part of God’s mysterious way? It is for a purpose and your faith is being called to action here.

2 Kings chapter 5 tells of a successful man in a struggle. This man was Naaman. He was a commander of the Syrian army and had nothing but great victories. He was a loved, mighty warrior. But as successful as Naaman was, he had an incurable disease that would slowly kill him. He had leprosy. Leprosy was a problem he couldn’t fix.

Through a series of connections, Naaman ends up going to see the prophet Elisha for healing. And there, he is disappointed.

2 Kings 5: 9-12: Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”

But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.

The key word here is EXPECTED. Naaman expected the man of God to work in one way, but he experienced something radically disappointing instead.

You may be disappointed in God right now, and that’s okay. He knows your human mind cannot conceive the fullness of his divine ways. He knows your sight is limited. He knows his ways are so much higher than your ways and he never expected you to understand him. However, he does call you to trust him in faith.

Faith can look at a disappointing reality, deal with the real emotions of it, and still take the next step. Faith can lean in instead of tapping out. Faith can be disappointed without dismissing the appointment.

My sister, you can still show up disappointed.

I was so disappointed in God’s provision when we stepped out in faith. I was so discouraged by the utter failure of hard steps taken in obedience. I wanted nothing more than to pack my bags and go back home … the problem was, there was no home to go back to. There was no money to go anywhere. We were stuck. Stuck in a place we didn’t want to be. But what we didn’t realize then is we were stuck there for a purpose we knew nothing about in our moment of disappointment.

There would be 2 little girls waiting for us to meet them at an orphanage just across the border in Mexico. We were unknowingly there to meet them. They changed the trajectory of our lives.

There was a wise old man named Mr. Winton waiting to become my mentor. I was unknowingly there to meet him. He changed the trajectory of my life.

I thought I was there to start a church and I was so utterly disappointed when it all failed. But God knew exactly what he was doing all along, and what he was doing back then is what brought me here to you today. If I could have seen a glimpse of my life today I wouldn’t have been disappointed. I couldn’t see where the disappointment was leading. I couldn’t see God’s full plan. I just had to trust it and take obedient next steps when it didn’t make sense, when it hurt, and when I really didn’t want to.

God works in mysterious ways … and sometimes those mysteries are a disappointment to our expectations. But remember, you don’t know what God is doing, so don’t give up in your disappointment. Keep moving in faith. Mysterious ways are supposed to be a mystery … let it be a mystery and let your faith guide you.

Ecclesiastes 11:5, “Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tin y baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.”

Naaman was used to being known and honored as a successful and mighty warrior. Now he felt dismissed. He felt insignificant. And his pride almost got in the way of his healing.

Girl, don’t let your pride get in the way of your healing. It won’t look like what you expect it to look like.

Don’t let your pride get in the way of your calling. It won’t look like what you expect it to look like either.

I’m going to clue you in on a little secret … your healing and your calling will be HUMBLING. It won’t be flashy. It won’t be magical. It probably won’t “feel” the way you thought it would feel. It won’t be on your timeline. You will be humbled in this.

Naaman was being humbled. He was told to go to a dirty river and wash in it 7 times. What would others think seeing a man like him washing in a river like this? And remember, he’s a mighty warrior for the Syrian army. He’s gone to Israel to see Elisha. Israel is enemy territory. He would literally be washing in the enemy’s dirty nasty river. Not what Naaman was expecting!

As he’s leaving in a rage over unmet expectations, his officers try to reason with him. Verse 13, they said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!'”

And that’s it right there, my friends. We’re expecting God to move and work in a way that makes sense to us, but God cannot and will not be confined to our little boxes. He sees what’s really in our way, which is often our pride. In our pride, we think we know what is best. In our pride, we want to control things. In our pride, we have it all worked out and set our expectations accordingly. And God often goes to work on our pride through humbling disappointments.

If you’re currently disappointed in the way God has or has not shown up for you, could it be that your pride is being humbled? Lord, has my pride gotten in the way? Have I assumed to know better than you? Am I dismissing myself from your powerful work because it doesn’t fit in my box? Please forgive me. I want to be humbly obedient.

Verse 14, “So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!”

Naaman almost missed his healing because of his pride and his expectations. Faith calls for pride to be left on the bank of the river. Faith calls for expectations to be stripped off like the rags covering Naaman’s sores. Yes, it might be a dirty muddy river in enemy’s territory, but if that is where God is telling you to go for a swim, then GIRL JUMP IN!

Faith doesn’t make sense. Faith doesn’t first explain itself. Faith doesn’t always feel good.

Faith is humble action with all pride left aside.

God does work in mysterious ways. Let them be a mystery. Stop trying to figure it all out and trust God knows exactly what he is doing.

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