You don’t have to be on this earth very long before you encounter disappointment. When you were a kid, maybe you were disappointed when an illness kept you from going to a party or your parent’s job kept them from attending your game. Unfortunately, disappointment is something we’ll battle the rest of our lives, often with much more serious and heartbreaking scenarios than a missed party. But God’s Word gives us hope in the middle of our disappointment. Together, let’s take a look at a few verses to encourage us.
PROVERBS 3:5
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
The plan is perfect. Everything is lining up just right. You just know that it’s going to be the best possible option for your family or your career. But then the rug is pulled out from under you as this opportunity suddenly vaporizes before your eyes. According to your understanding, this would have been absolutely wonderful… so why wouldn’t God let it work out?
You see, sometimes the problem in our disappointment is our own understanding. Our fallible human perspective is so very limited. We only see a tiny sliver of God’s master plan for our good and His glory. However, God sees the whole thing. And since He loves us and we know He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), we can trust Him even when we don’t understand. He’s completely trustworthy, even when our point of view is not.
ISAIAH 40:31
“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Do you remember how you felt at that last blow of disappointment? Was it like the breath was knocked out of you? Or was it a painful heartache that lingered for some time? Either way, your energy was likely suddenly missing. You didn’t feel like doing any of the things you needed to do. Grocery shopping? Nope, let’s make some backup Ramen. Exercise? Nope, gonna watch yet another episode in my Nexflix binge.
Disappointment can be physically exhausting. But when we put our hope and trust in the Lord in those moments, He renews our strength. Not only can we do the things we need to, but we can gain momentum that keeps us going. We can walk, run, and soar despite our disappointments when we rely on the Lord for our comfort instead of noodles and a play button.
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1 PETER 5:7
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Often paired with disappointment is a certain highly-emotional response likely to drive us crazy if we let it. Anxiety. When those anxious thoughts start swirling in our minds, it can be so easy to allow ourselves to fall down a rabbit hole of worry. However, we don’t have to wallow there. God gives us a way out of that destructive downward spiral simply by throwing our worries onto Him.
In prayer, we can leave our disappointments and worries at the feet of Jesus. According to 1 Peter 5:7, we can do this because He cares for us. Have you thought about that fact before? The God of the universe cares for you. He created you. He redeemed you. He keeps track of every hair on your head. The all-powerful ruler of all creation cares about you. And if He’s caring for us, we don’t need to be worried, even in our disappointments.
ROMANS 8:18
“Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.”
Disappointment and sorrow may last for a season in this life. But the good news is that for those who are followers of Jesus, that season will end. The trouble and heartbreak of this temporary earthly life will one day be over. We will finally behold His glory and know the joy of living out eternity with our Savior.
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