Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. (Psalm 146:3-5)
Anyone else have that experience? I don’t think about it any other day of the week, but when it’s Sunday and I need a bite to eat after I’m headed home from doing something at church, I think Chick-Fil-A sounds awfully good. But then—surprise! It’s Sunday. They aren’t open on Sundays.
That is absolutely something I support, by the way. I’m really glad they take Sundays off. But I can’t say I’m not disappointed when I have my mouth set on chicken nuggets and waffle fries and remember their doors are shut.
That’s a silly thing to be disappointed about, isn’t it? Well, it seemed like a relatable picture—more relatable than getting super personal. That’s the thing about disappointment, though, it’s something we’ve all experienced on some level. We’ve trusted another person to keep their promises, and they let us down. We trusted an authority figure to behave a certain way, and then they don’t.
Maybe it’s a car mechanic that says they fixed your vehicle. Maybe it’s a friend or family member who hasn’t supported you the way you hoped. Maybe it’s a pastor or a spiritual leader or some celebrity figure who toppled off the unfortunate pedestal you put him on.
It is part of human nature to elevate other humans. We compare and contrast ourselves all day long, pointing out in detail why one flawed leader is better (or worse) than a different flawed leader. We create little siloed fandom groups who value similar things and turn our backs on others who disagree with us, claiming that they’re weird or strange or just plain wrong.
But when a group of people put another human being above others, eventually that person is going to fail. They’re going to trip or stumble and disappoint the multitudes that expected better from them. Because that’s what human beings do.
We fail.
I wish I could say that people won’t let you down, but that’s not the truth. It’s the opposite of the truth. The best people you know aren’t immune to failure. The wisest people you know won’t always choose wisdom. The bravest people you know will sometimes act like cowards. The kindest people you know might sometimes act cruel. And those of us who strive with every breath to be like Jesus will, at some point, turn away from Him.
This is a real cheerful devo today, isn’t it?
I mean, I think it is. As a recovering performance-driven perfectionist, truly embracing the fact that Jesus doesn’t expect me to be perfect is liberating. That doesn’t mean I give up trying, but it does mean I cling to every moment of grace He offers me. I can’t be good enough.
But Jesus is.
That’s the whole point. Jesus is good enough. For you, for me, for all of us. He is good enough to carry the weight of all our flaws and failures, so that we aren’t burdened with the consequences of our imperfections. And we’re not just talking about eternity here. That’s obvious. None of us can be good enough to get into heaven. That’s the bread and butter of the Gospel.
I’m talking about everyday life too. All of those people who you’ve placed your faith in—you know who I’m talking about—all of those men and women who have let you down over your lifetime, none of them were able to satisfy the needs of your soul in the first place. None of them had shoulders broad enough to bear the weight of your anxieties and heartaches and hopes.
But Jesus does.
It’s so easy to put our faith in people because we see them all around us. It’s easy to be impressed by people because they are loud and in our faces, demanding attention or submission or obedience. Jesus doesn’t do that. He won’t force you to depend on Him. He’s standing at the back of the crowd waiting for you to come seek Him out.
You can put your faith and trust in another person if you want. Nobody will stop you. Just understand that someday in the future, that person will let you down. It might be a moral failure. It might be a physical failure; they might die. It could just be them reaching the end of their strength.
But there is no end to Jesus’ strength. There is no flaw or failure in Jesus. There is no end to Jesus.
The more you get to know Jesus, the more you will see that He has never let anyone down. He has never failed anyone. He has kept every promise He’s made. He has been faithful throughout the ages, even when people who promised to follow Him turned against Him.
You won’t always understand what He’s doing, and most of the time you will need to take a step back and breathe when He acts. Sometimes trusting in Jesus feels like going backward, but ultimately He is the only one who truly knows how to guide us to a good future.
He may not take you the way you want to go either, but what’s awesome about Jesus is that He’s also big enough to handle your disappointment. He won’t wither and collapse. He can handle whatever emotions you are experiencing, and if you keep trusting Him, He will show you why doing life His way matters.
Whatever you’re facing in life today, don’t put your trust in people. Put your trust in Jesus. Do what He says is right. Live the way He has said is true. And let Him work out the details.
He won’t ever let you down.
Why is it so much easier to put our trust in another human being than it is to trust Jesus with our futures?
When was a time in your life that Jesus came through for you when you thought all was lost?
How can we get to know Jesus better?
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