Spirituality

What do you do with your disappointments?

Miss Havisham and Pip, in an illustration for ...

Miss Havisham and Pip, in an illustration for the Household Edition of Dickens's Great Expectations. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock” (Psalm 27:5).

John and Mary had only lived in their dream home for 6 months before it was set ablaze by an electrical fire. “What am I going to do now?” John asked, looking up to the heavens. With tears running down his cheeks, he exclaimed “I have spent every penny I had on this house, and now everything is going up in smoke.” “Life is so f—ing unfair!”

I am sure you have heard the phrase, “Life is so unfair,” perhaps multiple times before.” People usually use this phrase when they are faced with unusual circumstances, such as disappointments. Dealing with disappointments can be difficult. Each of us deals with our disappointments differently.

What do you do with your disappointments?

You could do what Miss Havisham did in Charles Dickens‘s novel, Great Expectations? Abandoned by her intended just before her wedding, Miss Havisham froze in time.  She closed all the blinds in the house, stopped every clock, left the wedding cake on the table to gather cobwebs, and wore her wedding dress until it hung in yellow decay around her shrunken body. Her wounded heart consumed her life.

We can follow the same course, or we can follow the example of the apostle Paul. Intended to be a missionary in Spain, the apostle ended up in a Roman Jail. Sitting in jail, Paul could have made the same choice as Miss Havisham, but he didn’t. Instead he said, “As long as I am here, I might as well write a few letters.” Hence your Bible has the epistles to Philemon, the Philippians, the Colossians, and the Ephesians.

Paul made the best of his difficult situation. He never gave up and he never felt sorry for himself. He knew that the happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.

I am not saying this because I am in need, but I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 For I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:11-13)

Keep your eyes on God

King Jehoshaphat on a 17th century painting by...

King Jehoshaphat on a 17th century painting by unknown artist in the choir of Sankta Maria kyrka in Åhus, Sweden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no might against this great multitude that is coming against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon you’ (2 Chronicles 21:12).

King Jehoshaphat was confounded by the size of the army that was coming to attack Israel. So, instead of relying on his own wisdom and the strength of his army, he sought God’s intervention; he prayed:

“O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you— for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy—  behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? We are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chronicles 20:5-12).

In your own strength and in your own wisdom you are vulnerable, but God never wants you to be in a place where you are dependent upon yourself. God never wants your confidence to rest upon your own understanding.

  • It is one thing to know that there is a great enemy against you; it is another to know that God is greater than any enemy you face.
  • It is one thing to know that you are weak; it is another thing to know that God is all-powerful.
  •  It is one thing to know that you don’t have all the answers; it is another thing to know that God has perfect wisdom, knowledge and understanding.

You will never face defeat as long as your eyes are upon, and your trust is in the One who knows no defeat.

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Do you think you should blame God for anything?

English: Abraham Sees Sodom in Flames, circa 1...

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“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV).

I cannot possibly put a number on how many times I have heard people of all stripes blamed God for tragic events that have occurred in their lives. It is a common practice for people to blame God for unexpected tragedy or natural disaster. Christian or secular, the question is always; why? Why did God allow this or that? Why did God send this or that? Why? Why? Why didn’t God stop this or that? Some people even attempt to use tragic events to prove there is no God.

Frankly speaking, I do not think you should blame God for anything. He is a fair and just God, and whatever He promises He will do. In the days of Noah, He promised a great flood and the flood came. In the days of Abraham, He promised to destroy Sodom and He did.

God never promised us earthquakes, and tornadoes, typhoons and tsunami. He never promised diseases—heart attack, brain tumor or cancer. He promises eternal life and eternal damnation: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (John 6:23). “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned” (John 5:28-29).

Recently I stumbled upon a religious radio program—just in time to hear the preacher‘s comments on a friend of his whose wife was stricken with cancer. The preacher stated that his friend approached him and asks him why God allowed his wife to get cancer. His response was rather surprising! I thought he was going to say he did not know; as that would have been my choice, and the easy way out. Instead, the preacher said he told his friend that sickness and disease are not in God’s plan for us. He then quoted Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV).That is reassuring? I thought to myself. I suddenly realized that all the myths and misconceptions about God are a result of lack of knowledge about God’s Word.

God is a just God; He will never do anything that He did not promise. Tragedy and disaster brings misery but misery is not in God’s blueprint for us.

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God does not look at your possession; He looks at your Heart

English: Sacred Heart

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“Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand” (Ecclesiastes 5:15).

Think for a moment about the things you own; like your house, your car, and the money you’ve saved. Think about your many assets and the stocks you’ve traded, the clothes and electronics toys you have purchased. Contrary to what some people think, there is nothing wrong about owning stuff. It is good to have stuff after all! But let me remind you that your stuff cannot save you–only Jesus can.

So while you are on your quest to owning as much stuff as you can get your hands on; bear in mind that your heavenly father says you are to: “Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for you treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:20).

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36) It is a fact that your stuff isn’t really yours. They are loan to you; enjoy them while you can; because when you die you’ll take nothing with you. When one of the richest men in history, John D. Rockefeller, died, his accountant was asked, “How much did John D leave?” The accountant replied, “All of it.”

All that stuff is not yours, and it’s certainly not who you are. Who you are has nothing to do with the clothes you wear or the car you drive. Jesus said. “Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot” (Luke 12:15). God does not know you as the fellow with the nice suits or the woman with the big house or the kid with the new bike. God knows your heart.

Mankind looks at your earthly possession, but God looks at your heart. In the end, it is the pureness of your heart that will define you when you appear before the judgment seat. Solomon spent much of his life pursuing riches but he soon realizes that all was vanity. “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11).

The Blood of Jesus Cleanses

Smith's later theology described Jesus and God...

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“For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s (1 Corinthians 6:20)

The blood of Jesus Christ is powerful. It is His blood that makes it possible for you to be forgiven and cleanse from every sin. His shed blood is also the purchase price that has been paid for our redemption. What the blood of Jesus cleanses, it also claims. There are great benefits for believers when we recognize the claim that the blood of Jesus Christ has upon our lives.

I am sure you have heard the saying, “God is ready to take full responsibility for the life that is totally yielded to Him.” What a blessing that truth is! It means that you are not only completely the Lord’s but that He is completely yours. His righteousness is your righteousness, His strength is your strength, His peace is your peace, and His life is your life.

Heavenly father, I have acknowledge that I am yours, and because I am yours, I have a right to all the blessings you have reserved for those who have totally yielded themselves to you. I yield to you Lord, totally and completely.

Lord, you have esteemed me, and you have raised my status. The Scripture tells me that I am Royal and I believe. You are the King of kings and I am your child—I am special. ” 1 Peter 2:9 assures me, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Lord you have made me a joint heir with your son Jesus and I appreciate that.

Father, I know all these blessings that you have bestowed upon me come with a price—a price I did not pay personally. A long time ago you looked beyond my faults, and saw my needs. And you sent your only Son, Jesus Christ to shed His blood on Calvary’s cross. That’s a big price to pay for a stranger but you did anyway.

Heavenly father, I thank you for the blood of Jesus, and I thank you for all the blessings. I know I have a duty to worship you in spirit and in truth and I will Lord! I also know if I fail to do my duty, I cannot continue claim your many blessings….Thank you Lord.