Overcoming Disappointment
There is many a time in our walk with God when we must remind ourselves that if our hearts are surrendered and we are seeking Him in our attitudes and actions, in our plans and decisions, then our steps are indeed ordered of the Lord. Such is the case after a big disappointment. It is interesting that disappointment, no matter how many times we experience it, never gets easy. It may get easier, but easy? Never!
We become disappointed when we have put our hope and faith in something or someone other than the Lord. Even when we are disappointed with God, it is because we put our hope in something working out a particular way. When He does not do things the way we expect, we become disappointed and sometimes even angry with Him. We often forget that His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9) and that He has a much broader perspective on things than we do.
I remember a situation a number of years ago when I put my trust in things working out a certain way and they didn't happen that way at all. I had put my hope in certain people and they let me down. I wasn't just disappointed, but deeply hurt. It was devastating and heart-breaking. It was so easy to see the human error and human failings and to lay the blame for the hurt there. It was easy to see myself as a victim – of circumstances, of other people's failings and even my own failings. However, the Lord had allowed this difficult situation to teach me that my faith and trust were in the wrong place. He was in control and ordering my steps to bring me closer to Him.
In painful times like this, it is important to go to God and allow Him to help us get things in proper perspective. We want to see things in light of our hurt, our anger, our fear, and our insecurities. The Lord wants us to see everything in light of Him! May Psalm 119:133 become a prayer of our hearts, as we endeavor to walk yoked together with Jesus our Lord. In Matthew 11:30, He explains that His yoke is easy. It is easy when we are walking in step together! It only becomes difficult when we are pulling one way and He is pulling another!
Erma Bombeck wrote a book many years ago entitled If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? The title was intended to be humorous, but underneath the humor is a comment on real life. It very often seems to be "the pits" - depending upon our perspective, of course. If we struggle with and fight against the lousy hand we think life has dealt to us, then we will experience a great deal of anger, frustration, jealousy, envy, resentment and bitterness. We will find ourselves unable to continue on with God, except superficially. Because of our wrong perspective, based on the lie that we are a victim of fate, we dig ourselves into a miry pit! We are stuck there, floundering deeper and deeper in the ooze until we surrender and allow God to bring His perspective into the situation.
When we face disappointment, even the kind that brings with it soul wrenching and devastating hurt, we are compelled by the Holy Spirit to surrender it all to Him. The Spirit compels us to seek Him and recognize that in the midst of it all He is ordering our steps. When we allow God to put everything back into proper perspective, a framework which encompasses His unconditional love and concern for each of His children, it opens wide the door for healing of our hearts. Though our hopes may be bitterly dashed as storm-tossed ships against the rocks of life, He who IS our hope and the perfecter of our faith will rise in our hearts with healing in His wings. Though weeping may last for a season, unspeakable joy is our inheritance as children of the King!