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How many times have you found yourself praying, then someone comes to mind who has hurt your family or you deeply?

A situation surfaces. A circumstance begins to be recounted. People pollute your prayers - and it is not the people on your prayer list. It’s the people who have hurt you intensely, and have never even admitted or asked forgiveness for their part in making your life miserable.

If we think about it, we are tempted to ponder,
“God knows everything. He can do whatever He wants.
If God can do something about (name the situation, event or person), then why doesn’t He?
Why didn’t God do something at the time so I would not be so disappointed?”

It is hard to pray when your mind begins percolating about the offenses or the hurtful people over and over again. Just as coffee percolates in the pot, or drips down through the coffee grounds to make java, so our minds can percolate with disappointments repeatedly, causing our souls to grow blacker and blacker. Our thoughts begin to heat up. Our emotions begin to churn with that acid feeling in our stomachs. The negative conversations begin to flow unfiltered through our minds, which then seeps into our soul, making us sour. “As a man thinks within his heart, so he is.”

You have been there, too, haven’t you?

It’s the parents-to-be who paper the baby’s room. Shower gifts have been received that include the latest baby monitors and Precious Moments figurines. The house is waiting for the baby’s cries, the scooting on the floor, the pitter patter of little feet. But their little bundle of joy is stillborn, or born with a serious birth defect. Disappointment sets in. What you expected for your child did not happen. You prayed for a healthy baby. God could have given you a healthy child, but He chose not to.

Disillusionment. Why, God? This is not fair!

Discouragement. God, are You even there? Why are You silent? Why so uninvolved?

Depression. What do You want from us, anyway?

It’s the couple who get married and she discovers that her knight in shining armor leaves rust rings around the toilet - if he even remembers to put the seat down. Her picture of marriage was that he would meet her at the door telling her how beautiful she is, that no one in the world attracted his attention that day because of the image of her constantly flashing through his mind. He will greet her with a passionate kiss, a bouquet of roses, and insist on taking the dishtowel to the kitchen to wash the dishes while she relaxes with a magazine in front of the fire he graciously makes for her.

Wake up! It’s only a dream!

It’s the newly married husband whose expectation of his wife is that she will greet him from work with his favorite dish wafting through the air, pulling him into the inviting home like a cartoon character drifts through the air merely by the smell of a succulent dish. Ahh, but the food is just one piece to the puzzle in his mind. She has on a bathrobe, but underneath is something for his eyes only as she tugs him passionately toward the bedroom.

He discovers very quickly that the fantasy section is under “Fiction” at the library.

It’s the faithful employee who shows up on time and consistently tries to put in an honest day of work, only to discover that her services are no longer needed. She has been working hard to keep up on the latest technology. She walks into work one day only to be blindsided by her boss who relays the need to increase profits. Even with her upkeep of the business, the outsourcing and downsizing have made inner lay-offs necessary. Doing everything within her power to keep up to ensure the success of the organization made no difference in the let down! She is disappointed at the way things have turned out.

Disappointments come in all shapes, sizes and varieties. In fact, God’s Word calls them “multi-colored trials.” (James 1 2-3) They can range from what others consider trivial items to major setbacks.

While disappointments could revolve around events, or circumstances, by far the most stinging, lasting disappointments involve people. As I have grown older, I find that I disappoint myself far more than others have disappointed me. Only people, circumstances or things we care about can disappoint us.

We are afraid to say it out loud, but if we are brutally honest with ourselves we may find our ultimate source of disappointment is God.

God? Disappoint us?

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines disappointment as, “to fail to meet the expectation or hope of: frustrate.”
Who has not prayed for guidance, but it did not come?
Who has not asked for specific answers to prayer, only to find that your voice is bouncing off the ceiling?
Who has not wanted something so badly from the Only One who could provide it, only to feel that no one is there, no one is listening, no one cares?
Who has not had a frustration in his or her relationship with God?

“I prayed about my business decision before making it, and now we’ve lost everything.”
Disappointment: “To fail to meet the expectation or hope of. Frustration. ”

“Why did my wife leave me, pastor?
We attended church regularly and tried hard, but God just did not show up for us the way you say He did for people in Bible times.”
Disappointment: “To fail to meet the expectation or hope of. Frustration.”

“I studied hard for my final. Carved out time every single day leading up to it. Failed, again - even though I prayed to pass.”
Disappointment: “To fail to meet the expectation or hope of. Frustration.”

“I don’t understand. I took my child to church for years. She even memorized verses. She sang in front of the church from time to time. Now she’s pregnant by a guy we told her to stop dating.”
Disappointment: “To fail to meet the expectation or hope of. Frustration.”

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5, NIV)

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Rejoicing, On the Victory Side!

Beau

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