“DISAPPOINTMENTS”
The following is based on my journal entry from this morning.
Monday, February 19, 2018
Good morning, LORD!
I need to learn how to handle disappointment better.
Disappointments are largely the result of expectations. I expect too much of myself, others, circumstances, even of God. I have a friend in my twelve-step group who never tires of reminding us that “an expectation is just a premeditated resentment.” And I always need to remember that if I hang on to a disappointment, it will most definitely hang on to me. In a very little while, disappointment will sour into resentment, sure as I’m sitting here.
Actually, I occasionally suspect that disappointments may serve a useful purpose: They can help build character. Disappointments help me to ask crucial questions. Is this really something I want and need to do? How much do I want this? Am I going about this with the right motivation, attitude and means?
I have heard a saying that sounds like a cliché: “There are no unanswered prayers, God answers all prayers. ‘No’ and ‘Wait’ are just as much answers as ‘Yes.’” It may indeed be a cliché. However, years ago I had a professor who pointed out that, “a cliché is another name for a common truth that we commonly ignore.” If I had learned nothing else from that professor, that would have been enough!
Perhaps disappointment is God’s way of saying “No,” or “Wait a while.” Perhaps God has something different that God wants me to do. Not necessarily better, but better for me. God’s “no” is often a “yes” that I am not facing up to.
Sometimes, writing things down can be therapeutic. Attempting to speak the truth helps me to sort out what really is true, as opposed to trying to fit the truth into my own little twisted assumptions. Who knows? Reading (and reading this blog post in particular) may also be a way of you dealing with your own resentments.
(For another good blog on this matter of disappointments, have a look at a website I just discovered: https://feelslikehomeblog.com/2013/04/13-bible-verses-to-overcome-disappointment/.)
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