I remember a season in my life when I was very discouraged because of some things that happened that caused my life to look different than I had imagined it would. You see, God had spoken some promises to me, and He did not give the details of how it would happen, when it would happen, and what it would look like. I got excited and thought I had a good picture of what it would be like. Then, when life began taking some different turns that I had not anticipated, I began to get very frustrated and discouraged. I shut down, was angry, and stopped imagining and anticipating the future God had for me.
I will never forget the day that God showed me that what I was shutting down was my hope. Why? Because at the root was the belief that if I didn't hope, then I would not be disappointed. He showed me that it was something I had done quite often throughout my life to keep disappointment at a distance. So, I even shut down my hope about what God said would happen because to me, it looked like He was letting me down.
When God revealed what was really going on inside of me, I began to look up all the different Bible verses that had the word hope in it. It helped me tremendously. I was reassured that I could put my full hope into what He promised me, and He would not disappoint.
I can say today that He has fulfilled those promises, and it looks even better than I imagined it to be. I see the full picture of what He promised because I'm living in it. How to get here was not what I would have chosen, but He knew what was needed for me to be where I am now. I had some things to learn that would prepare me for the fulfilled promises.
Be encouraged today that God does not disappoint. His plans for us here are better than we could ever imagine. It is just that to get to D (the fulfilled plans) we must go through A, B, and C to get there. You can fully trust Him to get you there even though the road is not what you pictured.