The Disturbing Gospel: Day Three
Day 3: The Weight of Impossible Expectations
Devotional
One of the cruelest things about idolatry is how it crushes both us and the people we love. When we make someone or something our ultimate source of happiness, security, or worth, we place an impossible burden on them—and they will inevitably let us down. Think about a marriage where one spouse has made the other their idol. Every mood, every decision, every word becomes loaded with ultimate significance. The pressure is unbearable. The idolizing spouse becomes controlling and anxious, while the idolized spouse feels suffocated and can never measure up. What should be a beautiful relationship becomes a prison for both people. The same thing happens when we idolize our children's success, our friends' approval, or our own performance. We end up demanding perfection from imperfect people and imperfect circumstances. We ask finite things to carry infinite weight, and they always buckle under the pressure. But there's someone who can handle the weight of our ultimate trust and love. Jesus doesn't buckle under our expectations because He's already perfect. He doesn't disappoint us because He's already proven His love by dying for us. He doesn't change or fail because He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. When Christ becomes our ultimate treasure, we're free to love people without crushing them with our needs. We can enjoy good things without demanding that they be perfect things. We can face disappointments without being devastated because our deepest security rests in someone who will never fail us.
This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
And there is salvation in no one else,
for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
- Acts 4:11-12
Reflection Question
Who or what in your life might be feeling crushed under the weight of your expectations, and how might trusting Christ more deeply free both of you?
“Whenever you rely on a person's love more than God's love,
when you make a good thing an ultimate thing,
you will always end up crushing the other person under the weight of your expectations
and they will crush you under the weight of their imperfections.” - Pastor Mike Mura
Prayer
Jesus, forgive me for placing burdens on people and things that only You can carry. Help me to love others freely without making them responsible for my happiness or security. Be my cornerstone so I can build my life on something that will never fail. Amen.