When Disappointment Takes a Back Seat
When my kids were little, I was not the parent who would always let them win. Every now and again, I probably did. But for the most part, I figured it was better for them to learn the disappointment of losing, rather than thinking everything would always go their way. While they tease me about it now, I wouldn’t change it. It was a worthy lesson.
There’s just no way to escape disappointment.
Disappointments come in varying degrees. Sometimes they are inconsequential. Like when my husband ate the leftover pizza I had been promising myself as a reward for cleaning bathrooms. (Full disclosure – that was about 30 years ago and it still gets brought up, so maybe it wasn’t as insignificant as I’d like others to believe.)
Sometimes our disappointments are life-changing. Like when I was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 39.
Regardless of where it lands on the scale, disappointment is simply when things don’t go the way we had hoped.
For quite some time, it seems, I’ve noticed a lot of people expressing their disappointment in humanity. And too be sure, there is a lot of violence and hatred and divisiveness and just plain ugliness that I think we all hope will get better.
Humans are faulty and will always disappoint.
There is no way around it.
Benjamin Franklin said, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes.” To hope for anything different will end in disappointment.
His quote is inaccurate, however.
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. ~Romans 5:3-5 {NLT}
The one hope we have as Christ followers, which will never end in disappointment, is our salvation.
This isn’t just good news, it’s the best news ever!
Yes, our lives will be full of disappointments, big and small. And yes, this world is a fallen, broken place with one disappointment after another. But our salvation surpasses every single set back or tragedy this life has to offer.
The fact of the matter is, we can let our trials and the stench of this world get us down and make us question God’s sovereignty. OR we can choose to see the worst of humanity, and sometimes the hard things we go through, for what it is – Satan doing what he does best.
Choose the latter, friend. God really does, “cause everything to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28).
Every disappointment takes a back seat to the ultimate hope – salvation.
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