When you say "I was hoping for something else"

We all have some "I was hoping": a relationship that didn't work out, some grades, a job, a prayer that wasn't answered the way you wanted. And with it comes a special kind of tiredness, because it's not only what happened that hurts, but also what you had imagined. Disappointment is the distance between what you hoped for and what turned out. The danger isn't feeling it, but settling into it and concluding that nothing is worth it. God doesn't disappear in those moments. Sometimes he's closer than it seems precisely when you feel let down, even if you don't notice. Telling him what you were hoping for, without dressing it up, is the first step toward looking at what happened in a different way.