There are many things to be disappointed about in this life. We are set up to strive for “more” with all of the promotions and ads and marketing that bombards us every day. We often chase after things, people, positions, experiences, or degrees hoping they will bring us happiness and are surprised when, after we achieve it we are still feeling disappointment.
Or maybe we have experienced disease, death of loved ones, and other things that occurred through no fault of our own and now we are left to deal with daily reminders of that loss. Life can be so hard.
What is our response when things don’t turn out according to plan? Where do we turn? Who can understand? How can our heart and mind accept the situation and move forward?
It is important to allow ourselves time to adjust to the new circumstances, of course. And that time of grieving and the process of grieving looks different with every person. Talking to a friend or counselor or pastor can be helpful. I also like to pour out my heart to God and ask for His peace and patience while I navigate through the “new path” that He is allowing me to travel. It may not be what I would have chosen but it can have beauty and peace all the same.
Sometimes I need to adjust the way I view my circumstances.
Instead of asking “What is going on here?” or “What am I doing here?” I can ask,
“God, what are You doing here?”
“God, open my eyes to see what You want me to do or see here.”
I don’t want to suffer or endure difficulties but those things can strengthen me if I am looking to Jesus for His strength and perspective. That strength not only allows me to endure future disappointments (because they will continue coming) but to be a source of encouragement to others. There are others who are also suffering and enduring difficulties and, sometimes, the only way for me to see those needs and share the Love and Mercy of God is to be in those hard places. I don’t love to be in “hard places” but I know God is there.
And He wants to be my Rock.
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. {Romans 5:1-5, RSV]
May God bless you as you work through your disappointments!
Liz
PrayerPrompt: TREASURES
prayerpointsbyliz 
Oh how I love this scripture! I think about who I am now. I feel so different than I did five, six, seven and so on years ago. There’s no denying that my struggles have produced huge changes in my character. I think they’re for the better.
Still, things aren’t what I thought they would be. Not only that, but our kids are still adjusting to the massive change of living with my parents and having our financial situation become precarious. I am constantly -daily! – having to reevaluate how I view our circumstances, because like or not I set the tone for how my entire family views our circumstances. Not that I am responsible for their feelings, but my tone certainly affects their tone.
Praise God that I can stand in his grace.
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“I am constantly -daily! – having to reevaluate how I view our circumstances, because like or not I set the tone for how my entire family views our circumstances.” For sure — the kids (and others) look at how we view and interpret things and it speaks volumes about our faith in God. Sometimes I have to temper my initial reaction because sometimes the observers don’t always get to see me as I process through things and come to a healthier conclusion. Instead of being “reactionary” I need to consider my response. Somehow those words give of very different tones and I want to be on the response end of the spectrum which feels to me like a more mature and measured thing. Maybe it isn’t but a response feels much more calmer than a reaction.