On Disappointment

I am what you would call a “ride or die” Minnesota Vikings fan. And, in case you’re wondering, “Why is a Viking in Minnesota?” let me help you out a bit. The Minnesota Vikings are a National Football League team (professional football) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They were once called the Purple People Eaters (which is a far better name, but I digress).

I’ve been a die-hard Vikings fan for my whole life. It was really an inherited fandom through family. (Thanks, Dad…) Being a Vikings fan is truly a rollercoaster ride: you have high highs (though they never get too high), but very low lows. They’re almost never consistent—unless, of course, they decide to be consistently awful.

This year was set up for failure, just so we’re clear. Ask any longtime, rational Vikings fan and they’ll tell you to not get your hopes up for the 2024-2025 season. In fact, don’t have any hopes. We drafted a new, young quarterback and signed another. The young quarterback gets hurt, and the signed quarterback hasn’t been good in the past.

Let me spare you some details and fast-forward a bit. Despite all odds, the Vikings won 14 games in the regular season and made it to the playoffs. (Somewhere you can hear Jim Mora yelling, “Playoffs?!”) They successfully got our hopes high and with a glimmer of optimism.

But as any Vikings fan will admit, it’s far too naive to not have a smidge of skepticism, a hint of cynicism about any Vikings success.

And, well, the Vikings proved us right tonight. Tonight they played a truly awful game against the Los Angeles Rams and now the season is over. Let me say it simply: the Vikings have the uncanny ability to dangle abiding success in front of you—even making you think this is their year!—only to snatch it away quickly and rip your heart out.

Another year, another disappointment.

Now that you understand the disappointment I’m currently dealing with (yes, yes, I know it’s just a game!), perhaps you’re bearing up some disappointment yourself. We all will have to handle disappointment on occasion. That’s life. Things will come our way that leave us frustrated, disappointed, and discouraged. Some of that will be frivolous like watching your favorite football team lose again. (And again, and again.) And maybe some of it will be more serious. Either way, let-down is a factor.

And yet, even as we all live with the occasional disappointment, we must remember that Jesus never disappoints us. He has never, and will never let us down. Unlike the Vikings dangling Super Bowl aspirations in our faces, Jesus secured our salvation on the cross and we have a solid hope, a firm foundation in Him.

It’s simply impossible for Jesus to be a let-down. As the God-man, Jesus is sure, He is reliable, He is faithful. We don’t have to get our hopes up with Jesus just to be brought low. We know that our hopes remain high with Christ because what He accomplished on our behalf is solidified.

In a sermon on 2 Corinthians, C.H. Spurgeon noted:

The promises of God in Christ are not yea and nay, but yea and amen. Not for a moment does He disappoint the soul that trusts in Him.

Jesus stands in contrast with every other disappointment in our life. He is the antithesis of disappointment. “Jesus,” the late Tim Keller wrote, “is the only person who can take all of your disappointments, fears, and failures and not disappoint you in return.”

Friend, whatever let-down is happening in your life, know that Christ will never disappoint you. He’ll never forsake you. He’ll never do something stupid or make a mistake. He’s got you, and He won’t let you down. Take heart.

P.S. Disappointment in life decreases when you don’t root for the Vikings.