Are You Knee Deep In Disappointment

"And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans." Romans 8:28 The Living Bible

Good Morning Girlfriends:

Life can be full of disappointments, and I'm sure there is not one of us that has not experienced some form of it at some point in our life. When I think back in my own life, I have experienced failed marriages that didn't turn out the way I thought that they would. These failed marriages happened when I was not living for the Lord, but what happens when we are living for the Lord and disappointments still come our way, how do we deal with it, so that we do not sink into a pit of despair and stay there.

The root of disappointment is anything that crushes your hopes, expectations, or being let down. Disappointment is an emotion, a feeling of sadness, a loss, a painful gap between our expectations and the reality. Disappointment results from thoughts and expectations being out of line with reality. Our expectations and hopes for other people, may be too high for the situation at hand. When we believe that there's something we must have in order to be happy and fulfilled, we can set ourselves up for disappointment. Then that disappointment is an emotion powered by shame.

There are a couple of stories in the Bible I can think of, that I'm sure they must have experienced disappointment. When Martha and Mary's brother, Lazarus, had died, they knew that Jesus was on his way to their house, they knew that Jesus would be able to help him. As it turned out, it took four days for Jesus to get there, and Martha and Mary would be disappointed because in their minds Jesus was too late for anything to be done now. But we know how the story ends, it was God's way of showing his miraculous power, as he raised Lazarus from the dead. As we look at Joseph, how do you think he felt when his brothers threw him into a pit, but then sold him into slavery, only later to be thrown into prison for a crime that he did not commit, I'm sure there was some disappointment there.

How can we deal with disappointment... Here are seven ways we can apply it to our situations.

1. Believe In God's Plan. Our God is a miracle working God.

2. Grieve... Things have not gone the way we wanted. Take time to grieve, but don't stay there. Don't sit and reminisce of what might have been.

3. Pray... There were signs along the way to show that something was coming.

4. Listen And Wait... Big things happen when we pray.

5. Search for the good... This is hard time to be thankful, try to find something good.

6. Believe In yourself... Tell yourself that you can get through this.

7. Trust God... He has greater things to come, a better plan.

Girlfriends, sometimes we may feel like we have failed in our situation, whether it's a job, a business endeavor, raising children or a marriage. Sometimes these things are out of our control, but when they are not, God tells us in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sin's, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Yes we will fail from time to time, but God will always forgive us when we confess it to Him.

God is the great restorer, He redeems our losses, failures and pain. God will work all things out for our good, He is with us in our disappointments, and He wants us to know that He hurts when we hurt. God wants us to know that when we go through disappointment, that it is not the end of our story. God will not leave it there, because if it's not good, He's not done yet. He can bring dead things back to life, just like he did with Lazarus, he literally brought him out of the grave. God turned Josephs story around from rags to riches. Just think about it girlfriends, if God can do that for them, He can certainly do it for us as well, He is not done with our story either. God has amazing things in store for us sweet ladies, don't ever forget that. His word tells us that He will bless us up and above what we could ever think or imagine, He will turn a messy life, a messy story into a message and I know, that we all will have a message to get out at some point in our life, Amen. We are on a great journey with Jesus and He wants to take us to great places if we will allow him to take us there.

Let's Pray,

Father God, I thank you for each dear person who is reading this today, who may be dealing with some disappointment right now because of something traumatic that has taken place in their life. Lord I pray that they would feel your loving arms around them, I'm asking that you would invade their space with your Holy presence, and turn their disappointment in a joy unspeakable as you swoop in and heal those places in their heart that needs healing. Lord I pray that each one would rise up with a new outlook on life, so that they can find the good out of their experience so that they would be able to help someone else who may be going through the same thing. Lord I ask that you would fill each one up with a greater measure of your love and compassion so they will be able to pass it on as well, in the Mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

Be blessed sweet girlfriends, and pass the blessings on.