“Can you please play piano during the worship service?” The request, spoken in heavily accented English, caught me completely off guard. His smile was sincere and unquestioning; his expectation was clear. All American global workers’ wives played piano, didn’t they? My face must have mirrored the dismay I felt that first Sunday at what would become our church home for twenty years. With no piano skills, I was a disappointment. I had already fallen short of the church’s expectations of me.  

The extent of my “keyboard” experience was rooted in a childhood play-by-number “organ.” With the left hand, one pushed a button, producing a chord. The right hand moved from key to key, following numbers from a page in a songbook. Playing Silent Night by number, however, was not what this national believer or the church family needed. My expectation of contributing and making a difference for Christ flew out the open church window on that stifling July morning. 

Broken hearts from dashed expectations often plague global workers on the field. It might be recognized by the slump of shoulders or sheen of tears threatening to spill. Expectations of how a life of serving the Savior would play out, of a spouse’s leadership, of friendship and harmony with teammates. Expectations of supporters and supporting churches. Expectations of making a difference and how individual plans are not always realized.

With frequent staff turnover at our MK school, I shared Psalm 62:5 frequently. I had memorized it in Bible college many years before finding myself serving in Europe. God was still teaching me that neither my husband, my sending organization, nor my colleagues could meet my needs. In a similar way, I could not meet the spoken or unspoken needs of the nationals I had come to serve. “My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is in Him.” (KJV)

We will disappoint others. Others will disappoint us. There will be times when we will be disappointed with how we expect God to answer our prayers. However, we can put our hope and expectation in His promise that He will always do what is best. (Romans 8:28, Psalm 18:30)