How long, LORD, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save? Habakkuk 1:2
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save? Habakkuk 1:2
When my son was in high school he went out for football. He hadn’t been involved much in athletics but he was a big strong kid. The coaches encouraged him but the hot summer practices were tough. I was proud of him as he stuck it out with boys who had been playing football since they were kids. Then, right before the first game. He quit. There are many possible life lessons from this story but for me it was about disappointment. I was disappointed. I had hoped to spend fall Friday nights cheering him on, but that wasn’t going to happen. He moved on with his life; but this disappointment stuck with me. I couldn’t understand it or get it out of my head. I would wake up thinking about it at night.
At some point everyone experiences dashed hopes. Disappointment—an emotional response to a failed expectation—is the normal initial reaction. But allowed to linger, it can turn into discouragement, which hovers like a dense cloud. When that’s the case, there is no sense of joy or contentment, no matter what you do. That’s what happened to me; I allowed disappointment to turn to discouragement. It was a much more generalized state. It was a great frustration that nearly lead to depression.
The circumstances that trigger these emotions may be unavoidable, but the way we respond is a choice. We can either let sadness overwhelm our souls or face the situation with courage and bring it before the One who can help us.
I can feel myself going down a similar path now. I was very much looking forward to this summer’s Kairos. I haven’t done a Kairos weekend in over a year. I miss it much. I have been involved in meetings, in reports and in keeping up the ministry web site; but the weekends are where we can see God show up. When the summer weekend date was changed, I had a personal conflict. I was very disappointed. I know God is in control, but I have had trouble turning it over to Him.
Though we’ll all face disappointment from time to time, believers are not to wallow in it. Instead, God wants us to trust Him with everything—even our unmet expectations and deepest sadnesses. Remember, there is divine purpose for everything He allows to touch His children’s lives (Rom. 8:28).
Don’t let common disappointment to lead you to discouragement or even depression.
Turn it over to Him and be blessed.
Nick
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