Written By
Isabel Maguire
Professional Writing Student
Learn how shifting your expectations of God can help deepen your faith, especially when His answers don’t look the way you hoped. This reflection challenges you to trust His presence in the struggle, not just the outcome.
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Approved and verified accurate by the Local Outreach Coordinator of the Department of Spiritual Life on July 30, 2025
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Grand Canyon University. Any sources cited were accurate as of the publish date.
"He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.”
— Isaiah 53:3, NIV
When the Jewish people were waiting for the Messiah, they imagined him as a great king who would come and rescue them from Roman oppression and restore Israel to glory. They expected a great military leader who would save them all. What they got instead was a carpenter, a servant, someone who dined with sinners and didn’t come to Rome with force. He used His words as weapons instead of violence.
This wasn’t what they expected. But even though He wasn’t the Messiah they expected or even wanted, He was the Messiah they needed.
The question isn’t just Who is God? It’s also important to ask, What is my expectation of Him?
When He doesn’t fit your image, will you still put your trust in Him? Maybe today, you are hoping for a Savior who will rescue you from an uncomfortable interaction with a friend. But He walks with you through it instead of pulling you out.
It is rare in my life to wish God hadn’t let me experience different challenges. It is because of those challenges that I am who I am today. God uses those experiences to either teach you something or help you grow in your faith. Your faith will be challenged, and life won’t always be easy, so it doesn’t make sense to expect that from God.
Our lives are constantly changing, whether with new experiences, relationships or dreams. But God is the same today, tomorrow and forever. He is the rock on which we can trust and have faith. We can always count on him to be there for us, no matter what.
Ask yourself today, does my expectation of God make sense? Or do I need to change it to align with what the Bible says? Our skewed expectations can only lead to disappointment and separation from God.
It’s easy to look back and wonder, How could they have missed it? But we do the same thing daily. Our misinterpretation of God may look different from the Israelites’. While they were expecting a military leader to save them, we expect to be saved from our daily struggles. We pray to be taken out of a storm when God stays close to help us through it. We want Him to fix our problems overnight.
How many times have you prayed for something and gotten discouraged when nothing has changed the next day? It’s important to remember that God isn’t here to grant our every wish. He’s our heavenly father who knows what is best for us, even if we can’t understand it now.
We ask repeatedly to be taken out of uncomfortable situations, but God uses those experiences for good. He’s never promised to save us from hard experiences, but he does promise to be with us through them. Sometimes His answers look like weakness or silence.
Our God is complex, and his answers won’t be as simple as yes or no sometimes. He cares about His children and gives us answers based on that. Salvation comes through surrender, not domination.
Faith Beyond Expectations
Explore how GCU’s theology and ministry programs can help you deepen your understanding of who God truly is.
