Feb 12, 2015 / Devotionals

Disappointment – A Step In The Right Direction

Disappointment is a part of everyone’s life and yet it’s a very hard pill to swallow sometimes. It’s easy to look at someone else’s circumstances and see their setbacks and gloss over their sensitivity to the pain they face.

Whenever disappointment hits me I tend to get mad. Not at anyone in particular, but just mad that I couldn’t somehow control my surroundings and protect myself from hurt. So often I buy into the myth that if I do everything right I can somehow shield myself from the hard times in life.

Recently I’ve come to realize that there are just going to be setbacks, disappointments, hardships, brokenness, and pain that are simply a part of life. Unfortunately we live in a broken world and nothing around us is perfect. As hard as we try to live a life that is “good” we can’t ever protect ourself from the product of our environment; our world is flawed.

Thankfully as a Jesus follower there is always meaning and purpose to these disappointments. We know that our hardships are where we grow spiritually. We know that God uses the difficult things in our lives to strengthen us and give us a hope that holds us through.

For me, I look back on the hardest times in my life and they grew my faith the most. I am not a fan of any of those times but I think how weak I’d be spiritually without them and it makes me grateful for them. I’m so thankful that I got to experience hardship that for some people wouldn’t have been that rough but for me hit pretty hard.

I think God allows us to feel disappointed and go through hardship in the parts of our lives that we care about the most just so we trust Him in those areas. For me relationships are so important but yet so complicated. I have trouble trusting, I struggle to believe the best in other people, I feel disappointed by rejection, and I’m tempted to doubt that God is in control and cares about these parts of my life.

This verse in John reminds me that my struggle is natural and it doesn’t take Jesus by surprise:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

-John 16:33

We were never promised an easy life. We were never told that following Jesus would put us on a path to success and prosperity. Instead we’re told that we’re going to have hard times and that through these hard times we can know God is bigger than our circumstances.

The more I face disappointment the more I’m grateful for it. It’s not easy! It takes a complete change in my mindset from what I naturally want to think and feel. Through my disappointments I’ve found that each one is an opportunity. Most of them aren’t welcomed, and I’m never looking to be hurt, but I truly believe that Jesus gives us hardships in order for us to grow closer to Him.

I’m grateful for new depth in my relationship with God because of the disappointment I face. I’m grateful for a solid assurance that He has already overcome this world and it’s flaws. He is in control and He allows hardship into my life for Him to be glorified in me and for me to turn and trust Him.

In the end disappointment isn’t a step back in life – it’s an opportunity to be a step closer to God and His plan for me.