PINTEREST FAILS, PETER’S PROTEST, AND OUR OWN DISAPPOINTMENTS
From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead. But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!” Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” (Matthew 16:21-23)
Pinterest is full of beautiful recipes, decorating ideas, crafts, and glimpses of the life we wish we had. But let’s be honest: the “Pinterest fails” may be even more relatable. You start with a cheerful pancake bunny and end up with something mildly terrifying. Or you try to give an old dresser a vintage finish, and it looks as though it lost a fight with a box of markers.
We laugh because we’ve all been there. (Raising my hand here!) We begin with a perfect picture in our heads, but the finished result looks nothing like it. With a craft project, that gap can be funny.
But In real life circumstances, it can hurt!
Peter’s Picture of a Messiah
Something similar happens in Matthew 16. Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answers without hesitation: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” It’s a wonderful moment. Peter gets it—or at least he thinks he does. Jesus is the promised King, the One who will finally set the world right.
Then Jesus turns Peter’s picture upside down. He says that he must suffer, be killed, and rise again. Peter pushes back: Surely that isn’t how God’s chosen King wins. Jesus answers with words that still make us wince: “Get behind me, Satan!” Peter knows who Jesus is, but he doesn’t yet understand how Jesus will save. He wants triumph without suffering, glory without the cross, and rescue on his own terms.
The Savior We Imagine
Are we really so different from Peter? Most of us carry some picture of what God should do. We want faith to protect us from heartbreak, illness, financial stress, loneliness, disappointing work, and plans that never come together. We want God to smooth the road, reward our effort, and make life look more like the image we pinned in our minds.
So when life does not work that way, it can feel as though God has gone missing. But what if disappointment doesn’t always mean God has abandoned us? What if it sometimes shows us that the god we imagined – was way too small?
The Savior We Receive
Jesus doesn’t show up as a mascot for our ambitions. He comes from an overlooked place and announces a kingdom that turns the world’s rankings upside down.
The lowly are lifted.
The poor are honored.
People the world ignores are treated with dignity.
Jesus refuses the world’s definition of power and exposes the lie that wealth, status, beauty, or approval can make us whole.
The Savior we receive is probably not the Savior we would design. Jesus never promises a life without loss. Instead, he steps into suffering, carries it, and transforms it. The cross looks like defeat, but following the way of Jesus means seeing it as the place where love wins over sin and death.
And that changes how we see ourselves. Our value does not come from what we produce, own, achieve, or post online. Our dignity is a gift. We are God’s beloved children. When we live from that identity, we are free to share instead of hoard, serve instead of compete, and see other people as neighbors rather than rivals or enemies. We love because God first loved us.
What Disappointment Can Teach Us
None of this makes disappointment easy. Faith doesn’t ask us to pretend that pain is no big deal.
A broken relationship still hurts.
A closed door still brings grief.
A frightening diagnosis is still frightening.
But those disappointments can also show us what we’ve really been asking to save us: our desire to control every situation, success, comfort, recognition – or even someone else’s approval.
When those promises fall apart, we may finally become more open to the God we meet in Jesus—the God who doesn’t keep a safe distance from pain, but joins us in it. This God offers what most of us believe is impossible for ourselves: a love we do not have to earn and cannot lose.
The God We Need
Jesus never tells his followers that hardship will simply disappear. He tells them to take heart because he has overcome the world. Christian hope is not cheerful optimism that everything will go according to plan.
It is the deeper trust that disappointment, suffering, and even death will not get the last word.
We may not get the life we pictured—or the God we thought we wanted. But in Jesus, we receive the God we truly need: present in our losses, steady when life feels uncertain, and always working toward our redemption.
Some failed plans will never become funny before-and-after photos. Some disappointments leave real scars. Still, those painful places can loosen the grip of false promises and help us notice grace.
The finished picture may not look anything like the one that you imagined. But it may reveal something better and more lasting:
You are loved,
you are not alone,
and God is holding you through it all.
God's Yes + My Amen 