9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.-Zechariah 9:9, NKJV
Today, I get to preach on Palm Sunday. My sermon is on the theme of disappointment with God.
On Palm Sunday, we see a people greet Jesus with palm branches as he comes into Jerusalem riding on a donkey’s foal. It is the fulfillment of this prophecy in Zechariah 9:9.
But it is not as the people expected…
By the end of the week, “Hosannas!” turn into “Crucify hims!” Jesus–in their minds–did NOT fulfill the prophecy because he did not overthrow the Roman tyrants.
Expectations met disappointment.
I don’t know about you, but I had many disappointments in my first marriage’s ending. The chief disappointment was that it ended in divorce. I was hoping for a marriage resurrection miracle that did not happen.
That said, I am grateful it did end differently. God’s plans are FAR better than ours.
I have learned that the key to keeping one’s faith through disappointments is placing it in the right place–namely, in God and His love.
When we place our faith in certain outcomes–like the overthrow of the Romans or my marriage resurrecting–we set ourselves us for disappointment. But when we place it in God, we are making a safe bet.
Circumstances change, but God does not. We might not understand–as I did not at the time of my divorce–but God is still good and loving. He is worthy of our trust.
Next week, I will be celebrating a decade of marriage to Mrs. DM. This is just one of many blessings I would have missed out on if God had given me what I wanted back in those days. He remained good even when I was disappointed.
Put your faith in Him, NOT outcomes!!
Happy Palm Sunday!
