There are moments when following Jesus does not look the way we thought it would. Not because we misunderstood what to do. We did what was right. We trusted. We stepped forward in faith. And yet, what unfolds feels out of place. Not confusing, just… misaligned. This isn’t what we expected.
And if we are honest, something begins to surface in that moment. Not just disappointment, but a quiet realization that what we believed about following Him may not match what we are experiencing under His rule.
For many of us, especially shaped by the culture we live in, this tension runs deeper than we first recognize. We have learned, often without realizing it, to associate faith with outcomes. To expect that trusting Jesus will lead to what we recognize as good, as stable, as meaningful in ways that make sense to us. We may never say it that directly, but it reveals itself in how we respond when things do not unfold that way.
And alongside that, there is something else working beneath the surface. We are not naturally inclined toward surrender. We value independence. We value choice. We value the ability to shape our direction. And because of that, the idea of yielding fully to a sovereign King does not always sit comfortably with us. Not because we reject Him, but because we have not fully reckoned with what His authority actually means.
So when we come to Jesus, we often carry expectations we have never examined. That following Him will lead to outcomes that feel right. That faith will produce a life that aligns with what we hoped. That God’s rule will unfold in a way that, at some level, makes sense to us.
But Scripture does not present it that way. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23 ESV). That is not an invitation built on outcome. That is a call to surrender.
And this is where the tension begins to come into focus. The issue is not that God’s sovereignty has failed to produce what it should. The issue is that our expectations about His sovereignty were never aligned with who He is. We said He was in control, but we were still expecting that control to unfold in a way that made sense to us. We assumed that following Him would lead to a certain kind of life, but following Him was never about stepping onto a path that unfolds according to our understanding. It is about coming under a rule that does not answer to us.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8–9 ESV). His rule is not shaped by what we expect. His will is not adjusted to fit what we would choose.
And when life unfolds in ways that do not align with us, our instinct is often to try to straighten what feels off, to reinterpret, to push back internally against what we would not have chosen. But Scripture speaks directly into that instinct. “Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked?” (Ecclesiastes 7:13 ESV). This is not randomness. This is not misalignment in His rule. This is sovereignty.
We make real decisions. We plan. We act. None of that is removed. But we do not determine how our lives should ultimately unfold. “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9 ESV). That is not shared control. That is authority.
And this is where something deeper is revealed, not about God, but about how we have been relating to Him. Because if we are honest, there are moments when our expectation of following Him begins to look less like surrender and more like an unspoken agreement, something we never said out loud, but something we have been living as though it were true. That if we trust Him, if we follow, if we do what is right, then the outcome should reflect that in a way we recognize.
And when it doesn’t, something in us begins to question, not always out loud, but internally. Why this? Why now? Why this way? But God is not operating within an agreement we set. He is ruling according to His wisdom, His purposes, His will. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:25 ESV). What feels misaligned to us is not misaligned to Him. What feels off to us is not off in His rule.
And this is where the question begins to shift. Not, “Why didn’t this turn out the way I expected?” but, “What did I believe following Him would look like?” Because following a sovereign King was never about securing outcomes. It was about yielding to His authority. It was about recognizing who He is, and who we are before Him.
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 ESV). We draw near to Him. We seek Him. Not because He aligns with us, but because we recognize Him. And that recognition changes how we respond.
There is a moment in Scripture where many began to walk away from Jesus. What He said did not align with what they expected. It did not fit their understanding. It did not produce what they thought it should. And when others left, Jesus turned and asked if His disciples would go as well.
Peter’s response is simple. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life…” (John 6:68 ESV). He does not say it makes sense. He does not say he understands. He stays, not because the outcome aligns with him, but because he recognizes who Jesus is.
And this is where we are brought. Not to a place where everything makes sense, but to a place where we decide whether we are following Him for who He is or for what we expected Him to do. Faith is not simply trusting that things will unfold in a way we understand. Faith is lived allegiance. It is the choice to kneel before a sovereign King, not when it aligns with us, but because He is who He is.
As we sit with this today, we take a moment to reflect on where this tension has surfaced in our own lives. Where has following Jesus not looked the way we thought it would? Where might we be holding onto an unspoken expectation of how His rule should unfold? And where are we being invited, not to renegotiate the outcome, but to kneel in recognition of who He is?
If you are willing, share your reflections or questions in the comments so we can learn and walk this journey together.