Deep into a comfortable sleep, I was abruptly awakened by my eldest child’s cry and protest. Heartbroken, she announced, “The tooth fairy didn’t come! She didn’t come!”

Oh. Not the type of greeting a mother desires to wake up to for my failing was suddenly staring me right in the face.

She had carefully laid out a shrine of sorts for the tooth fairy. Her tooth was encased in a tooth shaped treasure box and a meticulously crafted letter was written. Folded within a faint blue-lined sheet of paper was a gift for the famous fairy. My child had placed small cues on scrap pieces of paper detailing what each item was, and a pencil was left out for the fairy’s response.

Oh. Expectations were running high in my child’s young soul and I failed to notice. My failure was evident in an unread note and the heart of a little girl.

When she was distracted I slipped into her room and opened the gift. I scribbled a little note with the pencil and took the gift leaving behind a shiny new coin. When I walked into the kitchen I overheard her sharing her heartbreak with all who would listen. I asked my child if she was sure the tooth fairy hadn’t made an appearance. Did she look hard enough for the evidence that she did indeed come? She quieted quickly and the wheels in her head began to turn. Running to her room, she found what she had been seeking all along.

We all know the tooth fairy is not real, and if she had to prove herself she would not be able to. And with time and age my young child will learn this truth. But how often have we felt the singe of disappointment when we trusted in something and our expectation was unmet?

We take our meticulously crafted plans, doubts, worries, and flat-out messes, construct them into prayers, and place them within the treasure box of our soul anticipating an answer. When we don’t receive an answer swiftly, or even the answer we were hoping for, we allow the lie that God has somehow failed us slip in and compromise our trust. And then we share our heartbreak with all who will listen.

The Lord himself will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forget you. Don’t be afraid and don’t worry.
Deuteronomy 31:8

But unlike the tooth fairy, God can prove Himself. And He will when we seek His face. His Word promises that He will never fail us, never hurt us, and never abandon us. And with time and age we should be able to look back upon the blueprint of our life and see His fingerprint over and over again. When we trust, we must be patient. We must open our eyes and see the evidence before us that God indeed showed up in our hour of need. Let us set aside our expectations and simply expect that God will do what He promised He will do.

Rest assured, He has never failed to take notice.

Father, help me to know in my soul that when it appears you have failed me, the opposite is truth. You will never fail us, you will never forsake us. When it is me who fails to see the evidence of your arrival, forgive me for you indeed will always come when I call upon your mighty name. In Jesus name, amen.