Let Down

They say only two things in life are certain, death and taxes. Can I add a third? People will let you down.

We have people in our lives that influence and inspire us. People that make us want to be better then we are. People that help us become better people. And on the same side of the coin, there are people that we influence, inspire, and drive to become better then they are.

But the problem with people is they're human and sooner or later, someone whom we look up to or is looking up to us, will disappoint us. And we'll disappoint someone too.

One of the most heart wrenching experiences I had in high school was when a friend of mine told me how I inspired him to worship freely and be ok with lifting his hands and truly worship God without worrying about what other people thought of him. It's heart wrenching because my worship at that point in life was fake. My Christianity was fake. And he was telling this to me because he was disappointed in me. We weren't friends for a while after this.

Thank God my false witness didn't stop him from really serving God and continuing to follow Christ. God can use us despite us. But that's not my point. The point is I had let a friend down. And it was this let down that got me going on the right track with God.

But how do we respond when people who influence us or people we're influencing let us down? How do we respond when we let someone down? Honestly, I'm not 100% sure. But I know we can't give up on people. If we shut people out any time we're disappointed, we'll become cold and build up walls between us and others. And that's just not awesome.

I'll say, when we're disappointed or let down by people that we're investing in and trying to help them become better people, we can't give up on them and shut them out for falling or failing, or just not meeting our expectations. There was someone along the way who believed in you and didn't give up on you, so let's not give up on those we believe in. Failing today could mean success in the future.

We have to remember that no one is perfect and when people let us down, we can't let that destroy our world. I think that's where so many people go wrong. We put so much faith into other people and when they fail to meet our expectations and fail us, we are so rocked to the core that we begin to lose trust in people altogether and let all their good work count for nothing. When the people who inspire us let us down, I think it's the perfect opportunity to show the love of God and be there for them and help pick them back up, not give up on them.

I think it's time to see people letting us down as an opportunity to show God's grace.

Not in line with this post at all but Radiohead is a great band and since they have a song called Let Down...