Life can become complicated when our expectations meet disappointment. Our phone rang. we looked at each other. Caller ID indicated the state and number we didn’t want to see. The team was calling and we knew it wasn’t going to be what we expected just a few weeks earlier.

The first year with that team had been a great season. Our team had won and gone to the playoffs losing in the first round. Translating from baseball language to normal banter that just means my hubby’s team did really well but not as well as we wanted. In baseball there is a lot of volatility in our year-to-year contracts but when you win more than you lose you expect to be back the following year. We never know from one season to the next if we will return.

Our expectations are to return after a successful season. The second season was a little different. We had not gone to the playoffs. After the last game of the season, we were on our way home less than 24 hours after the last out. Encouragement was given about the season we felt very secure in our position.

We expected the call from the team a few weeks before it came. We were expecting to be offered a contract for the next season and had sat in peace knowing God had our back. He had given us this job just two years previous and He had worked miracles in our lives and others in those seasons. Then ESPN leaked that our team was interviewing a new staff. The call didn’t go as expected. My hubby was thanked for his job well done, however, they wanted to go in a different direction.

I immediately questioned, why? God had put us here in this place and time and great things were happening. Why now? Why us? Friends tried to console us with words of encouragement.

God is in control.

God is with you.

God has a plan.

God never disappoints.

God never disappoints? He does when we are expecting something different. We had a plan set.

We set our expectations according to our abilities. We do good things. We want a certain job. We desire a higher pay grade. We want what He doesn’t intend. Our expectations are based on our desires, not His. We plan and negotiate with Him. When it falls through we ask God why. We question His sovereign hand in our lives.

After spending time in ‘pity me-ville’, I took a step back and took a deep breath. Our lives were changing again, a constant in baseball. We had job offers the very next day. I knew that we were going to be ok. God was in control. God is in control.

God is with you.

God has a plan.

God never disappoints.

Have you found that your expectations are based on your abilities and desires? How do you react when your expectations meet disappointment?