May 29, 2025 • 12 mins
In this episode of the Confidence in God podcast, host Julie McGhghy delves into the topic of feeling like you've disappointed God. Julie explores the concepts of guilt, shame, and God's expectations, reassuring you that you cannot disappoint God. Drawing from the Apostle Paul's experiences and teachings, she emphasizes that God's expectations are not about perfection but about believing in Jesus and loving one another. Julie encourages you to let go of unnecessary guilt and shame, reminding you of God's unconditional love and omniscience. For further reading, Julie references her book, 'Hey Dad, It's Me! Discover the Father Who Loves and Protects You,' available on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Hey Dad
00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview
01:08 Personal Struggles with Disappointment
03:11 Understanding Disappointment Through Apostle Paul
06:45 God's Expectations and Omniscience
09:26 Summary and Encouragement
11:26 Closing Remarks and Call to Action
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello and welcome to theConfidence in God podcast.
I am your host, Julie McGhghy,and our goal today is to help
you walk with confidence in God.
Have you ever felt like you'vedisappointed God?
In today's episode, we're goingto unpack the truth behind
guilt, shame, and God'sexpectations, and why you can
(00:24):
stop feeling like you're lettinghim down.
But before we do, if you are aperson who struggles with
feeling like you oftendisappoint God, you may wish to
read a bit more about thistopic.
I wrote about the things I'mgoing to share today in chapter
three of, Hey Dad, It's Me!Discover the Father Who Loves
(00:46):
and Protects You.
You can find the book by goingto amazon.com/heydad, or
clicking the link in the shownotes.
We're going to look at a coupleof times the Apostle Paul was
disappointed in people and thenapply what we learned to God to
determine if he is everdisappointed in us.
(01:08):
Before getting into thescriptures about the Apostle
Paul's experiences withdisappointment, I want to share
a bit about how I came to learnthis concept.
Some time ago, I found myselfapologizing to God quite often
for having disappointed him.
The most common things thatwould trigger these apologies
(01:30):
involved my failure to dosomething that I knew was right
to do and that I had committedto God that I would do.
The commitment that would mostoften trip me up was my
commitment to fast 40 hours in asingle week once each month.
(01:52):
When I failed to honor thatcommitment, usually because I
let something at work interferewith it, then I would feel guilt
and shame for disappointing God.
If you have been a Christian forany length of time at all, you
have been taught all of thethings you should do, such as
read the Bible and Pray daily,attend church regularly,
(02:16):
incorporate fasting into yourlife and share your testimony
with other people.
But when it comes down to dailylife, you find it difficult to
do all these things and keep upwith your responsibilities at
work, at home, at school, and atchurch.
Right now, you're likelythinking to yourself about those
(02:38):
things that you try to do, butjust can't fit into your day as
often as you feel you should.
Those are the things that causeyou to feel guilt and shame and
that you are disappointing God.
But today I assure you that youare not.
Can we really stop feeling thisguilt and shame when we can't
(02:59):
seem to get it all together aswe are taught?
Yes, and the way to do that isto understand that you do not
and cannot disappoint God.
Before looking at the ApostlePaul's examples, let's consider
the definition of disappoint.
In this context, it means tofail to satisfy the hope,
(03:24):
desire, or expectation of.
Synonyms include let down, fail,dishearten, depress, dispirit,
upset, sadden.
Do you feel like you let Goddown, fail him, cause him to be
disheartened, depressed,dispirited, upset, saddened?
(03:51):
Let's look at the Apostle Pauland see how he was disappointed
by other people to determine whywe cannot disappoint God.
The first example of Paul'sdisappointment with certain
people is found in SecondCorinthians chapter two verses
one through four, where we seethat Paul had been disappointed
(04:11):
by the people in the Church ofCorinth.
Paul explained to the church inCorinth why he would not be
visiting the church again as hehad originally planned.
He changed his plans because hewas heavy in heart knowing that
he would have to rebuke thechurch again if he visited
again.
He chose not to distress thechurch by further rebuke, and
(04:33):
instead he wrote his secondletter to the church.
This heaviness was a sadnessresulting from those who Paul
expected to cause him joy.
Paul's expectations were not metby some of the Corinthian church
members.
Again, failure of expectationsis a part of the definition of
(04:55):
disappoint.
Paul was disappointed and didnot want to show that
disappointment to the church, sohe changed his plans and did not
visit again as they wereexpecting.
The second example is found inGalatians chapter one, verse
six, where Paul states, I marvelthat you are so soon removed
(05:16):
from him that called you intothe grace of Christ unto another
gospel.
Marvel means to be surprised andastonished.
Paul is expressing surprise anddisappointment that the Galatian
Church was deserting their faithin the Gospel of Christ and
moving toward other teachings.
Surprise is a part ofdisappointment.
(05:39):
When we don't expect someone toperform a certain way, we aren't
surprised when they don'tperform that way.
Also, we aren't disappointedbecause we didn't expect it
anyway.
As an example, if I ask myhusband to stop by the cleaners
to pick up a jacket I would liketo wear to church on Sunday, and
(06:00):
he explains to me that hedoesn't think he will be able to
do so, when he doesn't pick itup, I'm not surprised and I'm
not disappointed.
However, if he told me he wouldpick it up, but he neglects to
do it, then I'm surprised andI'm disappointed.
(06:20):
We see in these two letters fromthe Apostle Paul that he was
disappointed on at least twooccasions.
There are two elements todisappoint.
The first is to fail to satisfythe hope, desire, or expectation
of someone.
And the second is to surprise.
In these two elements, we learnwhy we don't disappoint God.
(06:45):
Returning to my example offailing to meet my commitment to
fasting, do I let God down whenI allow something to interfere
with my fasting week?
First, God does not expect us tosucceed with every good thing
his word teaches us to do.
He doesn't expect perfectionfrom us.
(07:06):
Expect means to regard somethingas likely to happen or someone
as likely to do something.
Does God expect me to fast?
Does he expect me to pray acertain amount of time every
day?
Does he expect me to attendchurch every time the door is
open?
No.
These are all excellent thingsto do, and we find great
(07:30):
blessings in the act of doingthem, not because we do them.
We cannot earn blessings.
Like grace, they are free giftsof God.
But when we do them, we findourselves feeling blessed.
What does God expect of me andout of each of us?
(07:51):
First John chapter three, verses23 and 24 tells us that God
expects Christians, and by thatI mean those who are in
relationship with God by havingalready received salvation, he
expects Christians to believe onthe name of Jesus and to love
one another.
That's it.
He expects no more of us but tobelieve and love.
(08:15):
And Psalm 1 0 3 verse 14 remindsus that God knows our frame and
remembers that we are dust.
He knows we are human.
He does not expect us to beperfect and to read the Bible
and pray an hour a day, fastthree days a month and attend
church every time the door isopen.
These are all good things for usto do, and we are blessed by
(08:38):
doing them, but God does notexpect it.
The second element necessary forbeing disappointed is being
surprised.
God is omniscient, all knowing.
We are reminded in Psalm chapter1 39 verses one through four and
also verses 15 and 16 of thatsame Psalm that he knows
(09:01):
everything about us.
If God knows each of us thisintimately, he certainly is not
surprised by anything we think,say, or do, or fail to do.
God is not disappointed in you.
He loves you and there isnothing you can do or fail to do
(09:24):
that will change that.
We've covered a lot in a shortperiod of time.
Let me quickly pull it alltogether in a summary.
You can have confidence that Godis not disappointed in you
because as we learned from theApostle Paul, disappointing
someone requires both unmetexpectation and surprise.
(09:47):
God loves you no matter what youdo or don't do.
His love for you does not changewhen you succeed in praying four
hours a day, fasting five days amonth, and reading an entire
book of the Bible every day.
And his love for you does notchange when you can't squeeze in
(10:09):
15 minutes of prayer a day,haven't fasted in years, and a
single verse of scripture is allyou can read in a week.
When you find you haven't donesomething you know is pleasing
to the Lord, and you know Godwould want you to do it, don't
give in to guilt and shame.
You haven't disappointed him.
(10:31):
You have only disappointedyourself and robbed yourself of
the blessing of doing it.
And when you feel that pulltoward guilt and shame, remember
that it is your own heart thatcondemns you, not God.
One John chapter three, verse 20tells us for if our heart
condemn us, God is greater thanour heart and he knows all
(10:55):
things.
Pull this all together and youcan be confident that God loves
you no matter what you do ordon't do.
And you can let go of the guiltand shame for disappointing God
right now.
Let go of the myth that wedisappoint God.
Do you have other verses thathelp you discard feelings of
(11:17):
guilt and shame fordisappointing God?
Let us know and feel free toshare how you have been impacted
by letting go of those feelings.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, ifyou want to read more about this
topic, you'll find it discussedin chapter three of, Hey Dad,
It's Me! Discover the Father WhoLoves and Protects You.
Be sure to go toamazon.com/heydad, or click the
(11:41):
link in the show notes to pickup the book.
That's it for today.
Please take a second tosubscribe to our show so you'll
be notified when future episodescome out.
Also, it would mean the world tous if you would rate or review
our show.
That way more people can findout about it.
Until next time, let's beconfident in this that he who
(12:03):
began a good work in you will befaithful to complete it.
Hello and welcome to theConfidence in God podcast.
I am your host, Julie McGhghy,and our goal today is to help
you walk with confidence in God.
Have you ever felt like you'vedisappointed God?
In today's episode, we're goingto unpack the truth behind
guilt, shame, and God'sexpectations, and why you can
(00:24):
stop feeling like you're lettinghim down.
But before we do, if you are aperson who struggles with
feeling like you oftendisappoint God, you may wish to
read a bit more about thistopic.
I wrote about the things I'mgoing to share today in chapter
three of, Hey Dad, It's Me!Discover the Father Who Loves
(00:46):
and Protects You.
You can find the book by goingto amazon.com/heydad, or
clicking the link in the shownotes.
We're going to look at a coupleof times the Apostle Paul was
disappointed in people and thenapply what we learned to God to
determine if he is everdisappointed in us.
(01:08):
Before getting into thescriptures about the Apostle
Paul's experiences withdisappointment, I want to share
a bit about how I came to learnthis concept.
Some time ago, I found myselfapologizing to God quite often
for having disappointed him.
The most common things thatwould trigger these apologies
(01:30):
involved my failure to dosomething that I knew was right
to do and that I had committedto God that I would do.
The commitment that would mostoften trip me up was my
commitment to fast 40 hours in asingle week once each month.
(01:52):
When I failed to honor thatcommitment, usually because I
let something at work interferewith it, then I would feel guilt
and shame for disappointing God.
If you have been a Christian forany length of time at all, you
have been taught all of thethings you should do, such as
read the Bible and Pray daily,attend church regularly,
(02:16):
incorporate fasting into yourlife and share your testimony
with other people.
But when it comes down to dailylife, you find it difficult to
do all these things and keep upwith your responsibilities at
work, at home, at school, and atchurch.
Right now, you're likelythinking to yourself about those
(02:38):
things that you try to do, butjust can't fit into your day as
often as you feel you should.
Those are the things that causeyou to feel guilt and shame and
that you are disappointing God.
But today I assure you that youare not.
Can we really stop feeling thisguilt and shame when we can't
(02:59):
seem to get it all together aswe are taught?
Yes, and the way to do that isto understand that you do not
and cannot disappoint God.
Before looking at the ApostlePaul's examples, let's consider
the definition of disappoint.
In this context, it means tofail to satisfy the hope,
(03:24):
desire, or expectation of.
Synonyms include let down, fail,dishearten, depress, dispirit,
upset, sadden.
Do you feel like you let Goddown, fail him, cause him to be
disheartened, depressed,dispirited, upset, saddened?
(03:51):
Let's look at the Apostle Pauland see how he was disappointed
by other people to determine whywe cannot disappoint God.
The first example of Paul'sdisappointment with certain
people is found in SecondCorinthians chapter two verses
one through four, where we seethat Paul had been disappointed
(04:11):
by the people in the Church ofCorinth.
Paul explained to the church inCorinth why he would not be
visiting the church again as hehad originally planned.
He changed his plans because hewas heavy in heart knowing that
he would have to rebuke thechurch again if he visited
again.
He chose not to distress thechurch by further rebuke, and
(04:33):
instead he wrote his secondletter to the church.
This heaviness was a sadnessresulting from those who Paul
expected to cause him joy.
Paul's expectations were not metby some of the Corinthian church
members.
Again, failure of expectationsis a part of the definition of
(04:55):
disappoint.
Paul was disappointed and didnot want to show that
disappointment to the church, sohe changed his plans and did not
visit again as they wereexpecting.
The second example is found inGalatians chapter one, verse
six, where Paul states, I marvelthat you are so soon removed
(05:16):
from him that called you intothe grace of Christ unto another
gospel.
Marvel means to be surprised andastonished.
Paul is expressing surprise anddisappointment that the Galatian
Church was deserting their faithin the Gospel of Christ and
moving toward other teachings.
Surprise is a part ofdisappointment.
(05:39):
When we don't expect someone toperform a certain way, we aren't
surprised when they don'tperform that way.
Also, we aren't disappointedbecause we didn't expect it
anyway.
As an example, if I ask myhusband to stop by the cleaners
to pick up a jacket I would liketo wear to church on Sunday, and
(06:00):
he explains to me that hedoesn't think he will be able to
do so, when he doesn't pick itup, I'm not surprised and I'm
not disappointed.
However, if he told me he wouldpick it up, but he neglects to
do it, then I'm surprised andI'm disappointed.
(06:20):
We see in these two letters fromthe Apostle Paul that he was
disappointed on at least twooccasions.
There are two elements todisappoint.
The first is to fail to satisfythe hope, desire, or expectation
of someone.
And the second is to surprise.
In these two elements, we learnwhy we don't disappoint God.
(06:45):
Returning to my example offailing to meet my commitment to
fasting, do I let God down whenI allow something to interfere
with my fasting week?
First, God does not expect us tosucceed with every good thing
his word teaches us to do.
He doesn't expect perfectionfrom us.
(07:06):
Expect means to regard somethingas likely to happen or someone
as likely to do something.
Does God expect me to fast?
Does he expect me to pray acertain amount of time every
day?
Does he expect me to attendchurch every time the door is
open?
No.
These are all excellent thingsto do, and we find great
(07:30):
blessings in the act of doingthem, not because we do them.
We cannot earn blessings.
Like grace, they are free giftsof God.
But when we do them, we findourselves feeling blessed.
What does God expect of me andout of each of us?
(07:51):
First John chapter three, verses23 and 24 tells us that God
expects Christians, and by thatI mean those who are in
relationship with God by havingalready received salvation, he
expects Christians to believe onthe name of Jesus and to love
one another.
That's it.
He expects no more of us but tobelieve and love.
(08:15):
And Psalm 1 0 3 verse 14 remindsus that God knows our frame and
remembers that we are dust.
He knows we are human.
He does not expect us to beperfect and to read the Bible
and pray an hour a day, fastthree days a month and attend
church every time the door isopen.
These are all good things for usto do, and we are blessed by
(08:38):
doing them, but God does notexpect it.
The second element necessary forbeing disappointed is being
surprised.
God is omniscient, all knowing.
We are reminded in Psalm chapter1 39 verses one through four and
also verses 15 and 16 of thatsame Psalm that he knows
(09:01):
everything about us.
If God knows each of us thisintimately, he certainly is not
surprised by anything we think,say, or do, or fail to do.
God is not disappointed in you.
He loves you and there isnothing you can do or fail to do
(09:24):
that will change that.
We've covered a lot in a shortperiod of time.
Let me quickly pull it alltogether in a summary.
You can have confidence that Godis not disappointed in you
because as we learned from theApostle Paul, disappointing
someone requires both unmetexpectation and surprise.
(09:47):
God loves you no matter what youdo or don't do.
His love for you does not changewhen you succeed in praying four
hours a day, fasting five days amonth, and reading an entire
book of the Bible every day.
And his love for you does notchange when you can't squeeze in
(10:09):
15 minutes of prayer a day,haven't fasted in years, and a
single verse of scripture is allyou can read in a week.
When you find you haven't donesomething you know is pleasing
to the Lord, and you know Godwould want you to do it, don't
give in to guilt and shame.
You haven't disappointed him.
(10:31):
You have only disappointedyourself and robbed yourself of
the blessing of doing it.
And when you feel that pulltoward guilt and shame, remember
that it is your own heart thatcondemns you, not God.
One John chapter three, verse 20tells us for if our heart
condemn us, God is greater thanour heart and he knows all
(10:55):
things.
Pull this all together and youcan be confident that God loves
you no matter what you do ordon't do.
And you can let go of the guiltand shame for disappointing God
right now.
Let go of the myth that wedisappoint God.
Do you have other verses thathelp you discard feelings of
(11:17):
guilt and shame fordisappointing God?
Let us know and feel free toshare how you have been impacted
by letting go of those feelings.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, ifyou want to read more about this
topic, you'll find it discussedin chapter three of, Hey Dad,
It's Me! Discover the Father WhoLoves and Protects You.
Be sure to go toamazon.com/heydad, or click the
(11:41):
link in the show notes to pickup the book.
That's it for today.
Please take a second tosubscribe to our show so you'll
be notified when future episodescome out.
Also, it would mean the world tous if you would rate or review
our show.
That way more people can findout about it.
Until next time, let's beconfident in this that he who
(12:03):
began a good work in you will befaithful to complete it.
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