Dealing with Disappointment

Proverbs 23:17-18, "Always continue to fear the Lord. You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed." (NLT) Life has a way of bringing many challenges our way. All of these challenges do not necessarily bring us into situations of comfort or ease. Some of these challenges bring us face to face with disappointment and this challenge proceeds to test the strength of our faith. Disappointment can come in many forms; perhaps you did not complete all of your objectives on a certain day, someone hurt you or let you down, maybe you let someone down, or things just did not go the way that you planned. Some of our disappointments are easily resolved while others create a deep sense of discouragement and despair. In many cases this "spirit of discouragement" can create the feeling that we are not "good enough" for God or "good enough" for people. I dare say that all of us at some point in time sense these feelings but we can not afford to allow the enemy to imprison us in disappointment. When we are facing the challenge of disappointment it is easy to condemn ourselves; we can ask the "what if" questions or even focus on the "if only" statements that lead us into even more despair. This does not mean that we should not have serious moments of introspection but those moments must lead to a change of heart and attitude and not more despair and disappointment. Certainly each of us can learn from moments of difficulty so that we can be better prepared to face the next challenge when it arrives in our life; and rest assured the next challenging moment will appear at some point in time. We can fall into the trap of blaming ourselves or even blaming others. But none of these responses will be able to bring us out of those moments of challenge and difficulty. As a matter of fact some of these above mentioned actions will only cause us to inflict more pain upon our self. It is at these moments that we remember the words of the old hymn, "Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus." We can remember that we have someone in our life who is ready to help us carry the load of disappointment. Let us meet back here tomorrow and learn more about overcoming disappointment. Do not carry the feelings of disappointment and despair alone; God is very near to your life today and He understands the emotions that are flooding your soul. Ask for His help and watch Him respond in love to the cry of your heart.