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I'm sooo disappointed...

disappointment.    

 it comes in varying degrees.  

 i'm pretty sure we are all familiar with the many shades of disappointment's appearance.  

 here are just a few ways that I've experienced disappointment lately:

 -target was having a sale on Starbucks but they were out of the kind i wanted. 
-i want this blog to have good punctuation but my "a" key and my shift key are sticking or not working well...and then, I had a fleeting thought of disappointment that getting a new computer is not an option right now.
-ligament issues from pregnancy that I've been asking God to keep away have been starting...early.
-wondering why God hasn't healed my teeth. 
-hubs has a meeting tomorrow I wasn't planning on.
-I sinned again in an area i'm so desperately trying to grow in.
-exhausted but unable to sleep well at night. 
-disappointed that i have a son that is going to have to "notice" at an early age all the "sex" that is everywhere, including the magazine rack at the grocery store.
-my family lives so far away.

 Ok ok ok...you get the idea.  different levels of disappointment (all which i ask you to please please not take as me complaining...I'm battling my attitude in prayer :) ) all boil down to...  

 THE HANDLING

 How do I/we handle disappointments as they come at us probably numerous times a day?  When they come, do they shatter your day?  Do they cause you anxiety or fear? Anger? Jealousy? Regret? Do they push you to Jesus or do they cause you to feel disappointed in him too?  Do you blame Him based off of how you truly see his character??

 I don't always, (as I'm sure none of us is a "fail" every time we have to handle disappointment), but I do often enough to sit here and write about it.  

 I can just sorta "fluff" my heart and attitude off as a "debbie downer"  or..."Eeyore" as my family used to call me (that's telling huh?), but I don't think that would be right. I think that I need to encourage myself (and hopefully my readers) in truth about God and who He is, and also to look to him and his promises in the midst of my disappointment and praise him.

 FIRST RESPONSE

 -don't weigh God's character based upon what he allows and doesn't allow in your life.  God remains the same, and who he is and what he thinks of us is not based on our circumstances.
-don't keep bitterness inside or negative thoughts inside to fester. talk to your Father who listens.  The psalms are full of examples of crying out to Him in frustration, fear, disappointment (31,34, 142,143 for example).  
-don't try to earn favor from the Lord.  aka, don't think that your good performance somehow buys you the "blessing ticket" where you feel entitled and angry when you don't receive an expected blessing.  
-don't have expectations of people and things...or of the Lord...except that the Lord will be faithful to his promises and do all things for your ultimate good.
-look for the blessings.  you will find them.  use what is hard and disappointing to be an opportunity to honor and trust the Lord in thanksgiving and praise...and prayer.  maybe you can't get to the praise part, but you can at least ask God to give you a heart of praise.  you can expect that he will do that as it is inside of his will.
-ask God how he wants you to handle the disappointment and see if there is anything you can learn from the situation. ways you can grow.
-enlist and use the help of the holy spirit to help us through disappointments. for, while i wrote down a lot of more trivial examples, we all at points in our lives will experience deeeeep disappointment, and will need strength and help outside of ourselves to even think of moving past it.  

 ultimately, when you experience a disappointment, and feel the weight of it, it is not a bad thing.  however, sitting in your disappointment is bad.  so, my challenge to myself and to my readers today is to check our emotions and feelings of disappointment if/when they come, at the front door of prayer. praise. confession. 

 "create in me a pure heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  do not cast me from your presence or take your holy spirit from me.  restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." -psalm 51:10-12
application:  so, if heaven forbid, during thanksgiving meal i realize there is no cranberry sauce (total disaster) i'll just direct my heart to be thankful for the stuffing. ;)

Comments

  1. brownco5October 29, 2012 at 9:01 AM

    Thank you, Sar. As you go about your busy days with Israel and all, I can see where your thoughts are centered. :)
    And I love this: "check our emotions and feelings of disappointment if/when they come, at the front door of prayer". I think I'm going to make a little sign with that sentence and hang it in a prominent place in our house!

    ReplyDelete

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