Matt's Muzings
Disappointments
In Hawaii we have termites.
In the islands, they are a part of life. You always have to be aware of them and watch for them. They come up out of the soil and get into the wood of a house. If that happens and they are left alone they can destroy a house. Now, no one single termite can do much damage. But a colony can destroy a house.
I have been thinking how termites are like disappointments. Actually I have been experiencing the disappointments and how they feel. I am disappointed. Some of them that come clearly to me are:
I have been disappointed in leadership
(They're not perfect, I shouldn't be surprised.)
I have been disappointed in myself
(I'm far from perfect, but I should be.)
I have been disappointed in God
(He is perfect, but I expected him to act in the way I want. Sometimes it feels like He is not living up to His half of the bargain…)
One little disappointment will not do much damage. It seems a part of life and in some ways is like a common cold. It just happens. We can all get through it. But you can see in the list above, it was not just one disappointment. There were many of them. Like Job's servants running up to him one after another to pass on the pain, sometimes we get hit with a flash flood of disappointments.
Like a colony of termites quickly chewing up a house, leaving only an external shell, it looks good on the outside, but it's strength is gone. Given a storm or time, it will collapse. So it is with disappointments, we must guard ourselves against a ‘colony' of disappointments that will chew our faith and ultimately our heart up and leave us a shell of existence with no life left.
I find within me, the temptation is to hold God captive to my expectations. If I am disappointed, then it is because he has not done things the way preachers told me he would or I saw Him do in others. There can be many reasons but only one sure result. I get discouraged, which can easily begin to open the door to condemnation and lead to depression or just plain giving up a vibrant faith.
I am realizing that God uses disappointment to get my attention and get me back on course. I must keep reminding myself that He is God and I am not.
Philip Yancey writes “The Cross demolished for all time the basic assumption that life will be fair. No one is exempt from tragedy or disappointment… God himself was not exempt.” Jesus was not offered immunity and neither will we be. But he does offer us a way through it.
So where do we turn? To Him. What can I really expect from God? These are an absolute certainty that I can stake my life on:
He will never leave me nor forsake me.
I cannot be separated from His love.
All things will work together for my good.
Complete forgiveness
The quickest way to deal with disappoint is to embrace the pain of it. Stand on His word and promises. Give it to God (try and get as much clarity as I can). Then GIVE THANKS for what I can expect from Him.
Join me in giving thanks.