The Expectation Gap

Speaker: Steve Cuss
Length: 4 Parts

Most of us believe certain things about God… and then real life happens. We believe God loves us, but we don’t always feel it. We believe God is with us, but we don’t always see it. We believe we should be further along by now, but we still feel stuck. And in that space between what we believe and what we actually experience, something rushes in to fill the gap—usually shame, fear, or a whole list of expectations we were never meant to carry.

In this four-part study, Steve Cuss gives language to those gaps and helps us recognize the stories we tell ourselves when life doesn’t line up the way we expected. More importantly, he points us toward the God who meets us in those gaps. Together we’ll explore how to quiet the unhelpful voices inside us, let go of God-sized pressure we put on ourselves, rethink what progress really looks like, and discover a life marked by peace and wholeness.

Part 1: When Love Feels Far

Most of us don’t struggle to believe that God loves people, but believing that God loves me is a different story. In this session, Steve introduces some of the voices that fill the gap between what we believe and what we feel. We’ll discover how to hold those internal messages up to truth and begin resting in a love that doesn’t rise and fall with our performance.

Part 2: When God Seems Hidden

We believe God is with us, but sometimes it’s hard to see any evidence of that. In this session, Steve unpacks some false needs we have, and how they fuel anxiety to make God feel distant. We’ll hear what it looks like to let go of God-sized responsibilities and trust him with what only he can carry.

Part 3: When Progress Stalls

“I thought I’d be further along by now.” Most of us have felt that. This session reframes spiritual progress by shifting our focus from what we’re doing for God to what God is doing in us.

Part 4: Finding Home

When the gaps between what we believe about God and what we actually experience begin to close, something unexpected rises to the surface: peace. In this final session, Steve paints a picture of what peace looks like in real life and invites us to take one step toward living from the wholeness God offers.