In Whom Do You Trust: Knowing how to Manage Life's Disappointments – By Rachel Reed

Today’s Friday post is written by Rachel Reed on Disappointment. Rachel is the Director of Women’s Discipleship at my home church in Arlington, Virginia. 

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By definition, disappointment is "the feeling of sadness or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one's hopes or expectations."

Disappointment is hard. It can make you feel vulnerable, exposed. In order to feel disappointment, you first had to admit a hope for something. When that hope never manifests you're left with loss, sadness or frustration. Our hearts are laid bare when we admit there is an unfulfilled desire within.

Disappointment can often drive how we make decisions. We don't want to experience this emotion, so we shape our actions to secure reward or our desired outcome. Yet as much as we seek control, disappointment inevitably makes its unwelcome entrance in our lives.

Maybe you didn't get the job your heart was set on. That date you'd so been looking forward to didn't go so well. That pregnancy test once again came back negative. Your spouse or dearest friend has let you down. In the midst of our ever changing and often disappointing circumstances, Christ is all, He truly is all we need. How can that be?

If your hope isn't in anything greater than your present circumstance, disappointment could lead to despair or resignation. However, as those who have trusted Christ with our lives, we can have peace in the midst of our greatest disappointments.

I believe God desires to use everything from the most menial to the deepest disappointments in life to remind us that this is not our final destination. When disappointment from this earthly, temporal world sets in we can be reminded we have the most stabilizing hope: salvation in Jesus Christ (Col 1:13-14; 2:13-14). No matter the pain, loss or disappointment we can have peace and even hope because of our secured future in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2). This truth may not alleviate the pain immediately, but it will strengthen your heart to press on in faith that knowing no amount of disappointment can shake the foundation of your life, if that foundation is Jesus.

In Exodus 15, Israel was disappointed with how God chose to provide for them. In regards to this, Matthew Henry says it well, "God can embitter that to us from which we promise ourselves most satisfaction, and often does so in the wilderness of this world. That our wants and disappointments in the creature may drive us to the Creator, in whose favor alone true comfort is to be had."

I pray your disappointments in life remind you only of the One who never disappoints. I pray they urge you into greater longing for seeing your Savior face to face, the moment at which you will know the fullest satisfaction. And I pray your disappointments take your eyes off your current circumstances to see your fullest purpose in life as a child of God.

Happy Friday!